


Promise Me [Varian x Reader]

by orphan_account



Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Shameless Smut, Smut, actual written sex, but after u confess he's a cinnamon roll, ehehe emo varian thank u, if you wanna skip it thats fine, lots of nsfw warnings after they age up, so here you go, so yeah thats neat, some big ol FANSERVICE, theres only like five varian x reader works n none of them are pure smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-07 02:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17357021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: You've always known how you've felt for Varian, ever since you were just eight.But will the iron bars of jail separate you and push you apart?And will you be able to save his father, just as you promised?





	1. beforehand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **This is basically exposition. This is before S1 and at the last end, just as sort of a way to establish your relationship and past with him.  
> **  
>  TLDR; You and Varian meet when you're kids and grow up best friends. Being an orphan, you thought he'd never understand true pain until his dad gets encased by amber and he goes through extreme agony. You want to help but keep it quiet from everyone and at the end, he gets sent to jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have edited this chapter a little, modified it to cater better to Varian's personality. Not much drastic change, everything still ends up the same way, but here's what I did:  
> \- fixed grammar mistakes  
> \- instead of saying 'tried of being the good guy,' I replaced it with 'tired of being ignored.'  
> \- input a small section where reader offers varian to think of other solutions besides hurting raps
> 
> Hope it makes the story slightly better! I couldn't do much since I wanted it all to still happen as it does canon in the show, but I tried my best!

Growing up, you were an orphan that lived in Old Corona. You, alongside the other orphans, already suffered from lack of funds but also the fact that Old Corona often didn’t thrive unless it was summer and the large harvests began to bloom. You had to steal as a child and result to thieving to be able to even survive. You could recall a more flourishing time for Old Corona, when you were much younger.

As a young girl, you were subjected to multiple chores around the orphanage since you were the eldest of the six orphans that lived there with the matron. You were only eight when you had to wobble out onto the sidewalk cobblestone, sweeping off leaves that had fallen from the nearby trees. The broom was about twice your size but you continued attempting to brush them out of the path to the orphanage.

_Bark, bark!_ You heard echo in the distance. It didn’t bother you much, although, because you knew that the local strays would always run around, chasing a fowl or a cat around.

_BARK, BARK!_ It grew louder.

“Watch out!” Someone cried. You turned around and saw a scruffy golden retriever bounding toward you at an alarming rate. You squeaked as it collided into you, knocking you and your broom down onto the cobblestone. You fell down face-first, groaning as the dog raced on over your body and ahead. Hearing footsteps, you felt embarrassment burn at your cheeks hotly and you didn’t feel like getting up to see whoever it was.

“Are—Are you okay?” A gentle voice asked you. You slowly lifted your head up off the pavement, looking to the stranger. He was a young boy, probably your age, with a wide tooth gap and fluffy black hair. Holding out his hand to you, you glanced only once down at it before looking at his face again. Your heart raced and hammered in your throat as you gently picked up your hand, taking his. He heaved you up, being painfully thin and weak, even more so than you. You stood a couple inches taller than him.

“Thank you.” You whispered, pushing your short hair behind your ear. He reached up to you, gently dabbing his finger on your cheek before pulling back.

“Oh my gosh, you’re bleeding.” He said with a sad tone.

“That’s okay!” You quickly wiped your scraped cheek on your arm. Smeared and orange, it was vibrint against your arm.

“It isn’t! C-Come on, let’s find you a bandaid.” The boy said, taking your wrist and tugging you into the orphanage. He walked into the co-ed bathroom and rummaged underneath the sink before finally pulling out a small box of bandaids. Taking one out, he unwrapped it and approached you, leaning in closely to your face to place it on.

* * *

“Y/N! Come clean up this mess!” Demanded the matron from the kitchen. Ushering into the kitchen, you brought a small rag with you.

“What happened?” You asked softly, looking at the spilled mush on the floorboards.

“Jeremy flung his food all over the place.” She said, strolling out. You looked at the baby left in the highchair, crying loudly as he shook his fists. You bent down, cleaning up his mess of leftover food before you took Jeremy out of his highchair and went to go place him in his crib. In through the front door, you saw a familiar face walk in proudly.

“Varian!” You said happily, bouncing Jeremy on your hip.

“Hey, Y/N! Guess who won first place at the Science Exposition? This guy!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I told you all that hard work would pay off in the end.” You smiled, leading the way into the nursery and placing Jeremy down before you turned back to the smiling Varian. “Are you ready?”

“Yep! I haven’t scheduled any alchemy today, so I’m all free to do whatever you want!”

“That’s great.” You said. “I just finished my chores, too. Let’s sneak out before someone sees us.” You giggled, taking his hand. Racing out of the orphanage, you ran into the woods with Varian, running around and playing hide and seek and tag. You knew he was desperate to grow up, so were you, but you enjoyed your fair share of fun after all the adulting was done. For six years, you’d been Varian’s loyal friend and he’s been your secret crush all this time. Of course you had gotten good at hiding it, especially when he spoke about Cassandra, Rapunzel’s Lady in Waiting. But, when the two of you went out into the woods to play, you both had so much fun together that it was hardly a thought that crossed either of your minds.

You laughed as he chased after you, but you skidded to a sudden halt when you saw something up ahead. Large obsidian spikes erupted from the earth’s crust, tumbling in all different directions and sizes. You stared at them with wide eyes and glanced back at Varian, whose laughter slowed to an abrupt stop also once he saw them.

“People are starting to complain about these rocks getting on their property.” You said softly, reaching out to touch one. It was about as cold as ice and your hands recoiled from the slick surface. “I’m starting to get worried about them.”

“Me too.” Varian admitted, looking down. “I’ve been conducting tests and I can’t think of anything that can break them.”

“That’s scary. You’re a really good alchemist, are you sure there’s nothing?” You asked him.

“No, there has to be something.” He sighed, looking over at you. “Let’s just go back.”

You followed him through the forest and hesitated before entering back into Old Corona. A part of yourself told you not to go back, you really hated working at the orphanage, it was always a hassle because the matron demanded so much of you specifically. Maybe it was because you were the eldest there, or maybe she just hated you for no apparent reason. Still, you stood there on the edge of the cobblestone, causing Varian to pause ahead of you. Turning, he looked at you with concern.

“W-What’s the matter?”

“I hate going back to that place.” You mumbled.

“Oh.”

“Why won’t anyone adopt me? I just want a new life!” You exclaimed, crossing your arms very emotionally. Watching from the sunlit road, Varian looked slightly uncomfortable. He had never experienced the pain you had, he’d always known his father despite the lack of appreciation in his family. You often got mad at Quirin for not showing enough love to his own flesh and blood, but you had never said a word.

“I’m sorry…” Varian said, approaching you. “I’m sure someone will. You’re a good person!”

“Clearly not good _enough._ ”

“Oh, pssh. Don’t make me laugh, you’re great! Hey, how about you come have dinner with me and my dad?”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“No way! You always complain about having to cook dinner at the orphanage, why not have someone else do it for you? I can make some really good pasta!”

You laughed, nodding. “I’d love that. Thank you so much, Vari.”

“No worries. Okay, I gotta get home and set it up! Come at sundown.” He said, hurriedly waving to you and running off in the opposite direction. You waved back to him, your faint smiling fading as he disappeared around a corner. Shuffling back to the orphanage, you decided on what absolute rags you’d wear to dinner with your crush and his dad.

* * *

“So glad you made it.” Quirin piped up with a cheery smile toward you as the door swung open. You nodded, walking in slowly before you looked around the mansion they lived in. You loved being here, and you couldn’t help but smell something absolutely delicious wafting from the kitchen. “Varian was so happy to have a friend come over. You have no idea how precious you are to him.”

“Really?” You asked his father, looking up at him. Weary and worn eyes gazed back at you and he dipped his head. “But… only a friend.” You finished.

“He doesn’t really have close friends but after the science fair, he’s been saying that Cassandra, the Princess, and Eugene are his friends. I don’t mind it, of course, he seems happy. But I’m relieved he has a close friend that’s his age.”

“Do you ever tell him how proud you are of him?” You asked Quirin, but he was interrupted. Varian walked into the living room with a goofy smile on his face, exposing his adorable tooth gap as he announced dinner was ready. Quirin, ignoring your question, walked silently into the dining room. You followed slowly and sank down in your seat. Maybe that was the wrong question to ask, but you couldn’t help it. It bothered you how much Quirin clearly loved his son, just had trouble expressing it.

The dinner was amazing. Not only was Varian a great alchemist, but he was great at blending a perfect amount of basil into the sauce, then poured carefully over the pasta. You couldn’t help but imagine being his wife when you got older and the idea of him cooking for you for a change excited you. After dinner was finished, you politely thanked him. He looked to his father, wide blue eyes glimmering with hopefulness for acceptance.

“It was good, son.” He simply stated, crossing his fingers atop the table. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“It’s all about precision!” Varian shouted practically, excited to talk about it with Quirin. You suppress a laugh but Varian’s expression changed suddenly. “Oh, I need to do something. Really fast, I-I’ll be back!” He said, standing up and leaving his empty plate behind.

“Wait a minute. Are you going off to your lab? We have a guest.” Quirin rose his voice threateningly.

“Don’t worry!” You quickly cut in to avoid tensions. “I’ll wash up and go down there with him. I like science stuff.”

Reluctantly, Quirin nodded approval before you took everyone’s plates and washed them in the sink, then joining Varian downstairs in his lab. He was already hard at work, examining the black rocks that were sprouting from the floorboards. With his goggles still on, he turned to look at you. “It’s all about precision. I figure maybe I have to hit it at just the right spot and it’ll break.”

“You really think that’s it?” You asked him, gently putting the tip of your index on the very end of the pointed rock. “After withstanding all of your chemicals?”

“What else could it be, Y/N? I’ve tried everything.” He slumped, hitting it lightly with a hammer here and there. But, no places that it was struck caused it to shatter, which disproved of Varian’s suspicions. “Maybe I should just give up?”

“No way!” You said, taking his gloved hands. “You’ve been so determined to figure out what is so unbreakable that it can get rid of these things-- I think you can figure it out. If anyone can, it’ll be you, Varian.”

And with those words you had no earthly idea how much you inflicted on him. How much pain and grief he’d go through just to prove that sentence correct. You’d never know it until after the storm died down, either.

* * *

Upon those next couple of weeks, you found yourself growing more distant from Varian. As the mysterious black rocks sprouted up more often around town, destroying houses and establishments, people began to leave. The orphans had nowhere to go, so you all stayed behind with the few people that also chose to stay. Varian was working hard in his lab, you assumed, but you felt a chill on your spine as winter approached rapidly. Actually, too rapidly, snow began to float down gracefully from the thick and fluffy clouds, signaling the true existence of winter in Corona. You laughed, taking some of the other orphans out of the house to roll around and play with the snow. You kept watch until the matron arrived with a distasteful expression. After hours of snow continually falling, you thought you’d definitely see Varian outside, playing with the other children in the profuse heaps of soft and wet snow.

So, you set out to find him. Draping a cape on your cold figure, it was all you could afford to keep you warm this time to year. So, still wearing your short ankle dress and worn-down slippers, you plowed right on through the snow to Varian’s mansion. It didn’t take you long to get there at all, of course, but you really didn’t want to be in the cold any longer so you invited yourself in, opening the unlocked front door.

“Hope you don’t mind, but it’s freezing out there.” You said as you guided yourself into the front room, looking around. Not a single soul in sight, you thought to yourself. As odd as it was, you continued on through the house and drew closer to the basement where the lab was placed. You heard frantic voices and quickly opened the door, rushing down the stairs.

“Varian? What’s going on?” You asked as you raced up, witnessing Quirin struggle against shining amber that began to encase around his body. Varian had shattered glass around the place, a sign that was never good to see. Varian, with big balls of tears in his eyes, looked to you.

“P-Please, help! We need to get the Princess!”

“What?” You asked, in shock. “What’s happening to your father?”

“I-I don’t know! You have to get out of here! Come get the Princess with me!”

“Varian, I can’t! It’s a blizzard out there.”

“Fine.” He spat. “I’ll go alone.”

“No, I mean, I don’t have any clothes to keep me warm. If I go out there, I’ll freeze to death.”

“O-Okay, okay! I’m sorry I snapped at you.” Varian shook his head.

“GO!” Shouted Quirin, his torso now being enclosed. You panicked and ran up the stairs with Varian, shutting the door quickly. He looked awful. Tired from overexertion, he had severe eyebags that said he hadn’t had a solid rest in quite some time. Tears were streaming down his face and you quickly grabbed his cheeks, trying to get him to pull himself together.

“Calm down, I know the Princess will listen to you. She’s your friend, remember?”

He nodded slowly and wiped his face, opening the front door. “Get everyone out of Old Corona, it’s too dangerous here.”

“Where are we supposed to go?” You asked, but he was too much in a rush. Exiting out of his house and disappearing into the white hazy blizzard, you raced back out into the snow to retrieve everyone else from the village. And so, you did. It only took what seemed like all day, but you managed to get everyone else out of Old Corona and down below into the tunnels. It was an idea suggested by one of the elder adults and you thought it was pretty reasonable so you all headed down there with as many blankets and coats you could rummage before the heart of the storm rampaged upon Corona. It was cold down there, of course, but it was better than being in the snow. Holding Jeremy and leading the other children, you all huddled up together against a wall and you silently prayed for Varian’s safe return.

When the storm finally let up, you had a pile of children on top of you that kept all of you relatively warm and you heard the snow die down. The wind halted from whirling up above and you awoke the kids lying around you gently, standing up and handing one of the younger girls Jeremy. “I’ll go and check, it sounds like the storm’s slowing down.”

“Be careful…” One of the girls said softly and you smiled, ruffling her hair. You walked along the pathway until you reached a ladder, climbing it and hauling the door up and exiting out into the snowy and cold world. Glancing up toward the sky, you noticed that the snow had stopped falling and the wind had disappeared altogether. Despite that, the mist surrounding the town looked ominously unwavering until you saw a silhouette marching toward you. Squinting, you were able to make out more of a figure and a grin appeared on your face.

“Varian!” You cried out, racing toward him. Enveloping him in a hug, you noticed he was awfully limp. Pulling away, you saw his gaze was averted to the snow and his expression was dangerously blank. “What’s… going on?”

“She lied.”

“She who? Where’s the Princess?” You asked suddenly, looking around.

“Rapunzel _promised_ me!” He shouted angrily, his fists curled up. “S-She… she lied to me! I’ll never forgive her!”

“Calm down, what’s going on?”

“I asked for help and she-- they acted like I was attacking her! She threw me out of the castle.”

“The King and Queen are gone on a trip, the Kingdom is vulnerable right now due to the blizzard, right? I’m sure she has a lot on her shoulders--”

“NO!” Varian snapped at you, his eyes going wide. You stumbled back with fear and he realized what he had done wrong. Stepping back from you, his innocence suddenly washed back, returning to himself and he gently reached out to you. “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you…”

“That’s okay.” You dipped your face so you wouldn’t have to see his puppy dog eyes.

“Come on, we need to go save my dad.” He said, taking your wrist and running with you towards his house. You disregarded the others down below in the tunnels and figured they’d be safe until you got back, so you followed on after him. He slammed the front door open, calling out to his father. Once he reached the lab, the two of you ran down the stairs and--

He was completely encased.

“No! Dad! Please!” Varian sobbed, racing up to the amber and hitting it with his fists. You watched from afar, your mouth covered as you watched the boy you loved agonizingly scream at the solid amber. “I’ll make them pay and I’ll make you proud!”

“Varian.” You said softly, approaching him and resting your hand on his shoulder. He snatched your hand, searching desperately into your eyes.

“Please, help me.” He said. “I can’t do this alone.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m going to make Rapunzel feel the pain that I have! She’s going to pay for all of this--”

“No, Varian, no! You can’t think that way! You’re a good person!”

“I’m sick and tired of being ignored! Y/N, all of Corona is going to pay for what they did!” He cried, but you quickly whirled around on your heel, racing out of the lab then the house. You didn’t know that Varian down there, you didn’t at all. A part of you began to grow terrified as you ran for your life. Was it a mistake falling in love with him? But he was such a sweet and innocent kid when you met him…

Opening the hatch and climbing down the ladder, you found the rest of your people resting and told them they needed to get to the Kingdom quickly. Having to lead the way there through the piles of snow and probably a day’s travel, you got there and noticed the bridge was being repaired for whatever reason. Snow was beginning to melt quickly and you all entered the Kingdom, finalizing the abandonment of Old Corona. You walked toward the palace and as usual they were taking requests and listening to people’s issues, but it was unusually empty today. The King and Queen were back from their trip and so when faced with the royalty, you nervously propped Jeremy up on your hip.

“Your highness?” You asked gently, your voice shaky. All you could think about was Varian’s threats, but you figured maybe they were empty. You also couldn’t allow Varian to get in trouble and you thought maybe he just needed alone time.

“Yes?” Queen Arianna’s soft and velvety voice met yours.

“Old Corona is abandoned. The orphanage has nowhere to go… I’m afraid we can’t live out on the streets.”

Exchanging a concerned glance with her husband who was sitting comfortably with a cast on his ankle, he nodded.

“You’ll be allowed to stay in the palace for as long as you need.”

“Thank you so much.” You breathed with a smile. The rest of the orphans around you cheered but you didn’t feel that happy, your mind still stuck on one person.

* * *

A week passed. All of you had settled into the castle quite well and the matron was still legally your guardian but you also had maids and guards check up on all of you occasionally. Most of the time, you took care of everyone. Rapunzel, who you got to know very well, seemed not the type to throw out such an innocent person like Varian and so you didn’t ask any questions. Instead, during the time you spent together, she had organized an event to get the younger orphans loving homes. Surprisingly, they began to get adopted just like that. They were all much younger than you, and being the last and eldest, nobody seemed to really… _want_ you. You didn’t mind much, though. The orphanage back in Old Corona was probably overgrown with those black rocks and you were pretty much your own free person now-- except for the fact that your matron was keeping you from adoption as an excuse to make you do all of her chores for her.

“Where are you going today, Y/N?” Asked Rapunzel, who ran behind you in a long hallway.

“I’m just… going on a walk in the woods, that’s all.” You smiled, lying to her. She nodded, waving off to you as you jogged on out the front doors. Excusing yourself from the guards, you avoided the people in the streets and took detours down alleys and finally made it across the bridge back into the mainland. You were traveling on foot but it was much easier now that the snow had completely melted and the weather had come to a calm.

Coming upon Old Corona, you witnessed a sight that caused your heart to sink in your chest. The entire place was ridden with those black rocks, pointed and protruding every which place. You tried to navigate your poor home town, finding the path toward the familiar mansion you recalled eating dinner in not too long ago.

Slowly creaking the front door open, you managed to wedge yourself into the house. “Varian?” You called out, looking around the room before making your way down to the basement. “Varian?” Repeating yourself, you watched a small figure turn to look at you from in front of a glimmering amber boulder. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

“You turned your back on me.” He murmured. “Old Corona is just abandoned now, why are you here again?”

“I want to make sure that you’re okay. You were so shaken last time I saw you…”

“I needed your friendship then more than ever! You said you’d always be by my side.”

“I can’t turn my back on the royal family! Why don’t you think of another solution?”

“I don’t care! Rapunzel and her kingdom have turned their backs on me.”

“Not me. Not completely, Vari.” You whispered, reaching out for him.

“Urgh!” He exclaimed, walking toward you and perching his goggles on his head. “I’ve tried everything, Y/N, I can’t free him…” He had dropped the earlier subject which caused you to believe maybe he was reconsidering it, so you continued the conversation.

“It’s just like the black rocks, right?” You said, bringing him into a hug. “You have to find something just as unbreakable.”

“Just as unbreakable…” He muttered, his eyes lighting up.

“Now, Varian, please come with me to the Kingdom. You’ll be safer there.”

“No. I have to leave for awhile.”

“What do you mean?” You frowned.

“I’ve got things to plan.”

* * *

You weren’t keyed in on a lot of things, but you kept hearing rumors around the castle. When it was you making late night errands for your matron or when you were out trying to find Rapunzel to ask her what shampoo she used, you would hear people whispering in the halls and just around corners. It could just be your imagination, but you swore you heard Varian’s name get slipped in there a couple of times. Shaking it off, you thought that maybe nobody at the castle knew he was your friend.

Rapunzel’s birthday came quickly. The day was hectic, you heard rumors about some kind of robot arising to attack Rapunzel but you recalled being out and about during the morning, so it was only a rumor to you. Then, King Frederick banished Rapunzel into a high-security tower, just like the one she had been confined to for the first eighteen years of her life. You knew he only had good intentions, but with all the rumors going around, it almost felt like… Varian was included in on all of this. All you had to do was talk to someone about it. Now, it was later that night and you had tried to corner someone about it, but nobody was in sight. You did hear small screams coming off from outside, but assumed maybe it was just some children or something.

“Queen Arianna!” You exclaimed, rushing toward her. She was pressed against a window, staring out at a fog that enveloped everyone like a sea. “What’s going on out there?”

“Listen.” She said softly, placing a single finger to her lips. You hushed and heard a loud booming voice.

“ _Hello Corona,_ ”

No… Varian? That couldn’t be him… but his voice was unmistakable.

“Something dark is coming for you. Our King has refused to acknowledge it, in hopes to keep his secret-- he has _lied_ to you and vilified me.”

He continued onwards and you held your hand over your mouth. It was too late. Varian was truthful about getting his revenge on Rapunzel and all of Corona, and you had known about it and spoke nothing whatsoever about it to anyone. Queen Arianna had a solemn face on that made your gut wrench. Suddenly, you heard wild screams emit from outside and rampaging footsteps. You listened on in horror.

“This is terrible, we need to do something.” You said to her. “We need to go out there and f--”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Said a deep voice behind you. The two of you whirled around, facing a masked person that was only your height. You immediately knew who it was.

“Varian! Please, stop this, now!” You cried, but you could see his eyes through the green glass of his mask.

“Sleep,” He calmly replied, tossing a handful of green glittery dust in yours and the Queen’s faces. Immediately, you felt drowsy upon inhaling it, and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Waking up, you had no idea what the time was. You were lying on the floor of a familiar place and in the fuzzy distance, you saw Queen Ariana struggle against the ropes binding her. She was already up and awake, you felt groggy still.

“You’re finally up, Y/N,” Varian said softly, helping you lean up. “Good. You’ll help me.”

“I’m not going to help you do this to Rapunzel.” You said bitterly. “What you’re doing is wrong.”

“She’s right.” Spoke up Queen Arianna.

“Be quiet, I said!” Varian shouted to her. “Listen, Y/N, you’ve been my only friend.”

“Friend?” The Queen asked, raising her eyebrows. “You were… working together?”

“No!” You said, turning to her. “We grew up together, that’s all. Varian, please, this isn’t you! You know right from wrong, you were such a sweet kid!”

“But it was you who said that we needed something unbreakable! It’s her hair, Rapunzel’s hair! Only that can help shatter the amber trapping my father.” He said desperately. “You told me to keep going…”

“Not like this.” You cried. “Varian, I liked you. I thought we were gonna grow up and get married.”

A redness blossomed on his face and he quickly looked aside, trying to avoid eye contact with you. “Lying to me won’t help you now. Both of you are going to pay alongside Corona for betraying me! I wanted someone who would listen to me and help me!” He said, turning his back on both of you.

The entire time, you were trapped beside Queen Arianna, who was chained to the floor. You were bound by rope by the wrists and ankles and you continually cried, leaning on Queen Arianna for support. The whole scene played out to Varian’s plans. Rapunzel and her father showed up trying to get the upper hand, but became trapped. Eugene and Cass were outside battling the odd music box robots. Rapunzel caved in, allowing her hair to be used to drill into the amber. You watched on in fear as Varian frustratingly attempted multiple times to get the amber to shatter, but nothing would work.

Then, Queen Arianna and the King broke free, cutting your ropes too. After a hug between the loving family, they all turned and saw Varian was gone.

“Varian?” You called out, looking around.

The floor exploded and out came a giant robotic suit, including Varian inside. He spat some threatening words before all of you ushered out of the front door, down the steps. He raced in behind, capturing Cass and the Queen in both of his palms and squeezing. Erupting from the earth came the black rocks that you dreaded, encasing Rapunzel. In seething rage, she sent them flying toward his robotic arms and managed to cause Cass and her mother to get sent back down, freed finally. Then, she controlled the rocks to impale Varian’s suit and the red light from the inside flickered off, the entire robot tumbling down.

“Varian!” You screamed, racing toward the crumbling robot parts. As soon as it collided with the ground, you were sobbing and raced to the little window, shattering it with your bare hands and quickly fumbling around inside. “Come on, Vari, where are you?”

Feeling a warm body, you tugged and tugged until you pulled him out of the little hole you made. Lugging his unconscious body onto the metal, you held him close and listened for his breath. It was slowing rapidly.

“Someone, please, help! He’s going to die!”

They all stared at you.

“I know he didn’t made good choices, but he was just scared!” You pleaded.

They continued to watch.

You bent over his body, hugging him close and allowing your hot tears to roll onto his face. You ran your thumbs across his face, your vision blurred with grief. The one person you wanted more than anything to be by your side was dying. “Come on, come on…” You choked, brushing his dirty hair out of his face. Leaning down, you pressed your lips on his innocently. Drawing back, his breath paused. Your own hitched in your throat and you suppressed your sobs, watching him.

_COUGH, COUGH!_ He hacked suddenly, groaning in pain. Relief washing through you, you cradled him closely. His eyelids fluttered open as he batted his eyelashes, wearily looking into your sad face.

“Why didn’t it work?” He asked, tears balling in his own eyes.

“Oh, Varian, I love you.” You sighed, hugging him close. Everyone sat back and stared, allowing you two your moment before you knew his fate would only end up behind iron bars.

* * *

Varian was hauled clumsily into a carriage, still shut behind bars and cuffed. You felt awful but you couldn’t help but know it’s what he deserved after pulling a stunt like that. You watched his upset eyes scan the crowd before the horses began to trot away with him.

“Your majesty,” You said, walking up to the King, “he was just a kid. Please, don’t… don’t do anything.”

“We’ll find him some help.” He sighed.

“Thank you.” Rapunzel replied to her father happily. She glanced at you and then took your hand, leading you away from the scene.

“Y/N… I’m sorry.” She glanced down at the ground. “But Varian… his father…”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be okay. I swear, I’ll find a way to free Quirin and help his son.”


	2. unfreed

“Hello?” You called out, walking down the dark and dingy hallways of the dungeons. “I’ve got a fresh plate of cookies for a certain someone with a very cute freckled face.” You looked down each cell, checking to see if they were his. You saw an elderly man who smelt like he hadn’t bathed in a good long while with freckles spotting his face and he rose an eyebrow with interest. “Oh, not you.” You said softly, backing away from him.

Turns out, you had to go to the third and final level of the dungeons. Varian wasn’t an actual threat, was he? I mean, yeah, he almost killed the entire royal family, but he was just a kid. He didn’t mean to do anything wrong when he thought it was his _only_ choice. You finally saw him at the very end of the hall and you smiled, waving to him. He was seated on his cot, staring forlornly at the floor.

“I made you some cookies.” You whispered, gently pushing the plate through the horizontal side of the bars and onto the floor. “I hope you like them, you always really liked it when I made sugar cookies.”

He didn’t speak, his eyes drifting away from you.

“Look, I understand you’re upset with me.” You sat down on the other side of the bars. The guard that circled the area every five minutes passed by you but was on strict orders to allow you to speak with him for however long you wanted. So, he simply marched in the other direction. “You feel as if I betrayed you and all of Corona did too.”

“That’s because you did betray me.”

“I did not, Varian.” You retorted, looking back up at his sad expression. “I only wanted the best for you, you know that.”

“Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

You could see a band of red bloom across his cheeks like roses on a spring morning and you smiled as he turned his face toward you, looking awfully adorable with an embarrassed look on his face. “That you… loved me?”

“I still do.”

“Then why did you say you _liked_ me?”

“I thought maybe you would reconsider your actions if I fibbed a little; if you saw how they were affecting your relationships.”

He shrugged, his arms crossing over his chest as he innocently looked back away from you. You sighed, pushing your hair out of your face. “I still believe you can get through this. The King hired a professional therapist that should help you. But I swear, I’ll visit as much as I can and… look at me.”

His blue eyes darted over to you and you gave him a warm smile. “I promise I’ll free your father.”

“What?” He asked, his eyes widening as he skittered on over to you, gripping the bars with his gloveless hands. “Wait-- how can I trust you? So many people have broken promises--”

“Maybe _they_ have, but I’ve never once broken a promise to you. Remember when you almost got caught stealing and I promised I’d keep you from getting in trouble and I took the blame? When you fell into the river and I promised I’d get you out? When you accidentally slipped up and cussed and I promised I’d keep it a secret?”

You watched as you gave examples how his face changed from extreme distrust to relaxation. He blinked and nodded, sitting down on the floor right beside you. The only things that kept you from wrapping your arms around him were the iron bars of prison.

“I swear to God, on my life and soul, I will get your dad back to you. I’ll do whatever it takes, okay? So please, make an effort to get better. If you see this therapist, he will help you and you’ll get out of jail quickly.”

“Okay.” He whispered, taking a sugar cookie from the plate and biting into it. A smile curled on his lips and you watched him through the bars, laughing at his face. Leaning against the bars, your hands were the only things small enough to slip through the gap, edging onto his territory. You felt his warm fingers press against yours. The two of you talked for awhile longer before you had to go, your matron was calling you for more chores. You leaned forward and took his collar, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before you stood up and ran off.

* * *

Sitting back with the plate of cookies in his cell, Varian happily ate them. He always loved your cooking. He figured that maybe he should take your advice into consideration, but the thought of Corona paying for what they rightfully deserved seemed to satisfy him more.

Still, he could feel the burning sensation on his skin where your lips had met and it made him anxious and embarrassed. He couldn’t tell if you were lying about liking him or not, but he couldn’t quite give up his defenses quite yet. Rubbing his cheek, he managed to get the scratchy but smooth feeling off and continue snacking on his cookies.

* * *

You and Cass were hanging out in the training ground a couple days later, she was showing you simple techniques to use as self-defense. Swinging a small sword, you nearly cut off your fingers only twice this time. She was casually chatting as she sent arrows zipping through the air from the bounding string of her powerfully crafted bow.

“You really like that little weirdo?” She asked, raising an eyebrow to you.

“Well, yeah. He’s my best friend.” You sighed, practicing towards a dummy. You shuffled to the side, swinging lazily. “He’s only just made bad choices, that’s all.”

“And you promised him you’d save his dad? How are you going to do that? He’s a literal genius when it comes to chemistry and not even he could figure it out.”

“I don’t know, Cass. That’s what terrifies me the most.” You glanced down, your sword drooping by your side now due to your limp and weak arm. “I just couldn’t handle him being so hateful, I had to prove that he had at least a little ray of sunshine in his life.”

“I get that and it’s noble and all, but I’m just not sure.”

“That’s why I’m learning alchemy.” You said simply. Her jaw dropped and she turned to you.

“ _What?_ ”

“I’ve been reading about alchemy for years! I’ve always wanted to impress him with knowledge, but he seems to know everything down to the nitty gritty. I’m trying to see if he overanalyzed anything. At least something has to break that amber.”

“Do you have anything yet?”

“No, I’m thinking about taking a look at the library later today.”

“Oh, good luck with that then. Guarding duty, you know how it is.” She said, as an obvious excuse to get out of your invitation for her to come along.

“Mhm.” You mused, rolling your eyes.

* * *

Hours later, you managed to gain access to the royal library. Millions of books ruled over the entire room, towering ladders being easily manageable but still a sight for sore eyes. You twirled around happily, grinning to yourself. You had never seen something so magnificent, so you allowed yourself to stand there for a couple moments before you began looking through titles. You couldn’t find much in the A’s and then realized that they were labeled by author, which would take you an indefinite amount of time to go through. So, you managed to drag in the Queen for her advice.

“You want a book on alchemy?” She asked doubtfully, to which you nodded eagerly in response. Sighing, she waved you on and walked through aisles and aisles of tall bookshelves until you reached a specific area in the V’s. “Here, there’s a specific author that writes about alchemy. But I’m afraid most of these are ancient texts and none are recent.”

“That’s fine, thank you so much!” You waved to her as she left the library. Then, you began your search. You flipped through slim books, fat books, short books, long books, blue books, and black books. Finally, you found something labeled as ‘ _The History of Alchemy_ ’ and another one that seemed interesting such as ‘ _The Grecian Way of Alchemy_.’ Holding these two, you seemed relatively satisfied until you noticed something not too far off. A gated section of the library that was not quite tall but still an expandable gate. You looked around, hearing the silence that told you the coast was clear. Setting down the books, you clambered over one side of the fence and flipped off the other, landing on your behind and standing up, grumpily rubbing it to relieve the throbbing pain.

The books here weren’t labeled on the spines, so you took one out from its spot and read the title.

_’The Art of Dark Magic’_

Woah. You grabbed another.

_’Necromancy: Volume VII’_

You frowned, looking at the wall of books that went beyond the gate. It seemed like it continued on forever, all books covered with a dark material that sent chilling shivers up your spine. You didn’t necessarily believe in magic, it was mostly because Varian didn’t either. He was a purely scientific kind of guy, but upon opening the book about dark magic, you could read in clear handwriting about types of chemical mixtures. The book was basically about alchemy, right? Just with a darker title! You glanced back and forth nervously, taking the book and putting the other back before sneaking back over the gate, hauling the three books back to your separate room.

You decided to begin with the pure alchemy books, flipping and reading through those quickly. It took you all night of staying up to finish one and another day or two to completely understand the grecian one, but you ended up rushing down to the dungeons with your hair whipping behind you. You might’ve not slept for two days, but you were fueled by knowledge as you raced through the halls, down the steps, into the caverns below and finally running down the hall, calling his name.

“Varian! Varian! I found something!”

“Really?” He replied back as you skidded to a stop, holding out the book in your arms.

“Yes! You probably couldn’t find it because they’re very old sentimental documents, but here it says that the Greeks discovered elements of their own. Of course, they were mostly all earth, fire, wind, and water believers but this proves that there’s more elements out there! And then this book explains that alchemists have experimented with creating elements, which are successful. It discusses about this element-- Ruetonium-- had an insane amount of radioisotopes which caused the nucleus to be incredibly unstable. The strong nuclear forces weren’t able to generate enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together permanently, so in that case it--”

You glanced up at him after rambling and he had stars in his eyes. Watching you explain all this science nerd stuff made him rosy-cheeked and wide-eyed.

“It released gamma rays and caused things around it to disintegrate.” He finished your sentence. “Where did you learn all that?”

“W-Well,” You stammered, looking down bashfully, “you were so involved with alchemy so I used to read about it all the time. I’ll be honest, I hated it, but I wanted to impress you.”

“And so you have! Y/N, you’re a genius!” He exclaimed, grabbing your arms and causing you to drop the book. He pulled on them, closing the gap between the two of you before he pressed a passionate kiss to your lips. Panicked, you leapt back, holding your hand over your mouth.

“Wh-why did y-you?” You wildly stuttered, feeling your face burn up.

“I-I’m sorry, Y/N, I didn’t mean to-- to make you uncomfortable. I just got really excited and all!” He was practically dancing. “Are you going to make it? How? Can I see?”

“Actually, that’s the hard part. I need you to help me on making it.” You rubbed your neck awkwardly. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince the King and Queen…”

“You have to! If I don’t come along, we’re not going to be able to test this hypothesis out.”

“Right, I’ll go talk to the King and Queen.” You said, taking your books. “Don’t worry, Varian, I’ll get them to agree, okay? Sit tight.” You then turned, rushing back up the stairs. You had to quickly get to the throne room or else you’d run out of time in the day. Now that you lived here at the castle, you had better clothes and whatnot and you were actually wearing heels as you ran. Disregarding them completely, you had to get to the King and Queen. You barged into the throne room, drawing immediate attention to yourself.

“Y/N!” Rapunzel said with a smile. “What’s going on?”

“Your highness,” You addressed to all three of them sitting there, “I have an urgent request. Varian and I need to go back to Old Corona.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Asked Queen Arianna.

“We need Varian to make a machine that’ll aid us in creating an element that could potentially free his father.”

“Absolutely not.” King Frederick denied, shaking his head and standing up. “Y/N, he is far too dangerous to be let out of the castle.”

“Apologies, for I’m not one to challenge authority but,” You cleared your throat, “You can’t do that! If you don’t allow us to take this chance, he will have more of a motive to injure Corona and loathe the royal family. If you want him to get better, you will need to accept this journey.”

“But, you can’t possibly go alone…” Queen Arianna said.

“I’ll join them.” Cass strolled in casually, wearing her casual getup. “We’ll take a carriage. Varian will be handcuffed and then supervised if let out of his cuffs. Besides, this is his father. I don’t think he’s going to attempt to kill the people that he needs.”

Hesitance fell over the entire conversation. You could visibly see Rapunzel struggle with the decision, too.

“Please, your majesty.” You begged. “If this works, he’d be eternally grateful to the royal family.”

“But if it doesn’t…” The Queen trailed on.

“I have a good feeling.” You butt in, smiling.

“Well, if Cass is going, I feel safe.” Rapunzel looked to her folks for approval. They reluctantly dipped their heads.

“Alright. We’ll prepare the carriage. Be sure that Varian isn’t in sight of any of my townspeople. I don’t want suspicions rising.” The King demanded, standing up and walking towards you. He placed a large hand on your shoulder, enveloping it completely. “This is a noble thing you’re doing.”

“Thank you, sir.” You grinned. “You won’t regret this.”

Cass and you returned to the dungeons with the key from the royal guard. Varian, noticing his cell was being unlocked, excitedly smiled.

“Will I get my-- uh-- my apron, gloves, and goggles back too?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Cass answered lamely, locking his wrists in tight cuffs. She then led the way upstairs and out into the fresh open air, exiting the front doors and approaching the carriage with two stocky horses tied to it. The Captain stood by the carriage, eyeing Varian suspiciously as he climbed in. He exchanged a couple of loving words to Cass before she got up front, the coachman’s seat. That left you and Varian inside of the actual boxy carriage, shut in as the sun was sinking below the horizon.

“We all ready back there?” You heard Cass’s voice call out to the two of you.

“Yep!” You cheerily replied, holding your books in your lap. Varian was looking around the carriage and you felt it rumble and bump as the horses trotted peacefully along. The silence was met with the occasional song of the cicadas from the outside.

“I haven’t heard cicadas in so long.” He sighed, leaning against his side. You watched him and placed your books on the opposite seat across from you, freeing up your hands.

“Vari… about earlier.”

“You mean the kiss? Was it good?” He rose his eyebrows suggestively, his cheeks flushing pink quickly.

“Jeez, I-I don’t know! Since when did you stop drooling over Cass?”

“Oh, I hated her along with everyone else when Corona betrayed me. But that’s beside the point-- I was asking you if it was a good kiss or not.”

“Here’s a good answer.” You smiled, timidly reaching out and taking his face in your palms. His wrists were occupied with handcuffs, so he was essentially melting in your hands as you pressed a more firm kiss to his lips. Leaning back finally, he stared at you with big circular eyes that made your heart swoon.

“Aha… s-so it _was_ good.”

* * *

_Jesus, dear lord in Heaven, that was really good. Even better than_ my _kiss. I think I’m really falling for her._ Varian thought to himself privately, glowing a faint red color. Recently, when he thought of you, it would make his heart hammer in his chest but nothing like it had earlier today when you impressed him with your knowledge of science. At that time, he could feel an intense urge to just kiss you right then and there, but he kept it innocent because his thoughts began to elude him into something much too unseemly.

To be honest, ever since you confessed, he had second thoughts on pursuing Cassandra and you were the only person that could cross his mind religiously. Even though you were reserved and a very honest girl, he couldn’t help but allow his imagination to linger to even a possible wedding. Like a child, he got caught up in a daydream-- something you used to do with him when you were a bit younger.

But, he was only a young pubescent boy and that was completely normal of him to do.

* * *

“We’re here!” Cass called out to you both, the carriage rolling to a stop. You waited until she swung the door open for the two of you, helping you both down on the ground. You looked around your old abandoned village, still shattered and destroyed due to the black rock’s appearances, but you saw absolutely none in sight.

“What gives? What happened to the black rocks?” You asked Cass as she forced Varian to walk ahead of her so she could keep an eye on him as he walked hurriedly toward his old mansion. 

“Raps found out she could manipulate them, remember that night? So, she came back here and managed to get most of them to go away. Took a lot out of here, though, so there’s still some left behind.”

“What about the amber?”

“It wouldn’t budge, not even for her. If it can withstand intense alchemy and her magical hair, I’m not sure there’s much else that we can think of.” Cass sighed. “You really think this element thing is going to work?”

“No idea.” You whispered in return, watching Varian bounce excitedly on towards his house. “But he looks so happy, doesn’t he? I don’t know what to do if this doesn’t work.”

“You know he’s going to be upset if it doesn’t.”

“Yeah, I do. But, I think he’s starting to… like me? I think I can manage to calm him down.”

“Whatever you say.” She replied with a small smile on her face. Varian walked into the big gap in the entrance of the house, realizing how much destruction he really had caused. It looked just as it did when you left it. Cluttered with broken glass and stains of spilled chemicals, you carefully walked down the stairs into the basement where Quirin was kept safe from the world.

“Okay! Uncuff me!” He demanded, turning to Cass confidently. She rose an eyebrow to him and sighed, shaking her head as she took the jingly keys from her belt and unlocked it, allowing it to fall to the floor. Rubbing his wrists, he took a couple aprons from a hook nearby and held them out to you and her. “Now, get dressed. If-- if this is how we truly make Ruetonium, it could possibly melt our clothes and skin.”

Grimacing, you quickly pulled the thick brown apron over your dress. Cass volunteered to stand in the corner as you two did your work. Then, he began to construct something. Running around the lab, he retrieved things from all sorts of places and began to tinker with scrap pieces of metal. It only took hours and hours but when he was finished, he wiped the sweat from his brow and then you began to follow the book’s incredibly specific instructions on creating the element. Although most of the place was destroyed, Varian knew where most of his ingredients were, just like he was recalling where every single thing was by memory.

“Okay, now, we need to turn this on…” He trailed away, quickly pressing down the button for the machine to turn on. He held it down for a couple of moments and then let up on it, watching carefully with a thick metal mask placed over his face. He leaned over to his counter, picking up a pair of pliers that he used to delicately remove the element from the machine before he held it out as far away from himself as he could. “Perfect! It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Okay, now, we need to…” He, then again, narrated himself as he began to pick up a flask, filling it with boiling water, and dropped the element in. It bubbled and fizzed and almost went over the rim but it stopped just at the top and he carefully walked toward the amber casing, pouring his new concoction atop it. Racing back to your side, he watched carefully for any results.

It bubbled and hissed loudly, a loud squealing sound emitting into the air. The liquid slowly ran down the side of the amber, but it had hardly made a dent once it dripped down onto the floor, which made the floor melt. Your heart dropped and you could see Varian’s face drop suddenly.

“No, no, no! It didn’t work? Y/N, why didn’t it work?” He said, turning to you and grasping your shoulders. He was beginning to shake you, tears forming behind his goggles again. “It was supposed to work!”

“Varian, listen to me, listen.” You said, taking him. Cass had her fingertips on the hilt of her sword, ready to strike if she had to. You shook your head toward her, telling her to stay still. You took Varian’s hands, leading him upstairs into the kitchen. He was visibly shaking, his eyes twitching as he glanced around the room. “Hey, shh, you’re okay.”

“This is all wrong! He’s supposed to be… here…”

“Vari--”

“This is all R--”

“No! Don’t blame Rapunzel for something she couldn’t have done. Don’t blame yourself, either. Trying to assign blame on someone is never good, you know that.”

“What are we going to do?” He whined, gripping your arms and resting his head on your shoulder. He sobbed and you placed your arms around him, bringing him into your body closer. You allowed him to cry it all out, rubbing your palm against his back comfortingly. Hushing him, he stopped shivering and leaned back, his goggles pushing his bangs back and exposing his forehead. He wiped his cheeks and his eyes were red and irritated, complimenting the sky blue.

“I know, it’s so difficult for you right now. You can cry it out, it’s okay to, but please don’t take it out on anyone else.”

“I understand.” He whispered. “Let’s get back to the castle.”

“Alright.” You kissed his forehead and he tugged on your apron, looking up at you with wide eyes. You chuckled and he straightened his back as you leaned into a warm embracing kiss with him. Across the room, someone cleared their throat. You broke from him quickly, red with embarrassment. Cass nodded to both of you before you headed out back into the carriage and on your way back to Corona.


	3. reciprocated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **tw: r*pe, sexual harassment, suggestive content**

It must’ve been months you recalled vividly attempting anything at trying to free Varian’s father from his golden glazed demise, but nothing had worked so far. Pacing in your room, you had books scattered across the room and you swore that you had emptied half of the library out into your bedroom. Picking up a book, you glanced over it one more time before your door swung open.

“Mother Doris!” You said, straightening your back. Although you often snuck off to the dungeons below, she was still in charge of you and what you did. Her uncaring and pale face reflected in the dim light of your room. “Do you need me to do something?”

“Actually, Y/N, I need to tell you something.” She said, walking towards you. “The orphanage was destroyed back in Old Corona and I’ve been desiring to open one here in the Kingdom. So, to get the money, I had to sell you off.”

“Do _what_?” You shouted, enraged. “Sell me? I’m not an object! Mother Doris, please, you can understand… if you even opened an orphanage, you’d have no orphans to take care of.”

“There’s always some runts on the streets.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s a wealthy man, paid a good deal after hearing most of your information. His manor is inside the Kingdom walls but you won’t be living at the castle anymore and neither will I.”

“I thought you’d enjoy piggybacking on the royal family.” You hissed loathingly at her. “I can’t believe you! You make me do all of your bidding, your rules, your absolute horse _shit_ and you sell me off to some sleaze?”

“You better start packing.”

Frowning, she left the room in a rush. You glanced down at your books and sighed. It was the same as getting adopted right? Maybe she meant to say adopted. You do pay money to get adopted anyways. You were always excited to get adopted, so maybe this was a good chance to finally get a fatherly figure in your life. Now excited, you began to pack up your few things into the bags you pulled out from the closet. You explained to Rapunzel and her parents about leaving the castle due to adoption and they congratulated you, sending you out into the streets. You were given an address on the way out and followed the road to get to the manor.

* * *

You were wrong, so completely wrong. Of course your matron didn’t mean that you were adopted. You were taken in roughly as a servant girl of a wealthy man. The first week was alright, you did your chores purposefully. The second week became a hassle when he requested more intimate things. The third week, you were beaten down because you refused to do something. You hardly visited the castle anymore and you knew Varian was awaiting your return, so you found the perfect time-- a month later-- to go and see him. You even baked him a small platter of cupcakes, wrapping it up before you left the manor late at night. Sneaking out was forbidden, but you managed to figure out how to get around the rules. With Rapunzel’s help, you managed to go into the dungeons while Varian was sleeping.

“Varian?” You called softly from outside his cell. You watched him groan, shivering as he pulled the thin blanket around his small frame.

“Y/N…” He whispered, his voice faltering. You knew he was still asleep. “I… where… go…”

“Oh, Varian.” You pressed into the bars, hoping that none of the other locked up prisoners would hear you whispering to him. “What are you doing?”

You waited in silence for a soft response and you smiled with a shit-eating grin, knowingly standing there. You purposefully made your voice sound breathy and heated and he didn’t reply until a couple moments later.

“ _Take it off._ ” He demanded in a loud voice. Jumping with wide eyes, you felt your entire face heat up dramatically. You cleared your throat loudly and he blinked awake, leaping up once he saw you standing outside the cell.

“Y-Y/N! Wh-- What are you doing h-h-here?” He stammered wildly.

“You should’a seen your face!” You laughed, covering your mouth. “And heard yourself talk.”

“Oho, oh no, what did I s-say?”

“Nothing much, don’t worry. I brought you cupcakes!” You uncovered the tray and set it down on his side, but he kept staring at you with big eyes. “What is it?”

“You haven’t visited me in… months… and you changed your hair. And your clothes are so-- so p-pretty on you!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I was relocated farther away, so I couldn’t just visit you whenever I wanted.”

“I missed you.” He murmured like a sad puppy, giving you _those_ eyes. He was aware how this face made you swoon and you clutched at your chest as he stretched his arms out for an inviting hug, but the bars provided a challenge.

“I missed you too.” You replied sadly.

“Need these?” A feminine voice called out to you at the end of the hall. Turning, you saw Rapunzel holding some keys. “I told Pete to give you two some alone time, you knowww…” She said in a singsong voice. “Catch up.” Then, she tossed the keys to you. Catching them, you gave her an appreciative smile before she turned around and left the bottom most floor. Unlocking the door to his cell, you walked in and he quickly wrapped his arms around your body, tightly squeezing you.

“You-- you smell really nice.”

“Can you be any more awkward?” You jokingly giggled and he shook his head.

“No can do, that’s just my thing, y’know.” He sat down on his cot with the plate of cupcakes, taking one and admiring it. “These look so good!”

“Taste one!” You urged and so he did, taking a bite into the frosting and cake. His eyes went wide and you laughed, watching him excitedly set down the plate and ravenously dig into his cupcake.

“I wanted to say, Y/N,” He addressed after finishing one cupcake, now glancing down at his empty palms. “I was scared you left me or got hurt.”

“I’d never.” You whispered back in the dim moonlight.

“And I thought-- well--I thought that maybe you’d never come back to me. I was so worried that I didn’t get to tell you how I feel.” He took both of your hands in his small ones, running his thumbs across your knuckles. “A-About you.”

“Me?”

“Mm.” He nodded, quickly brushing your hair out of your face before cupping your cheek and pulling you toward him. Your eyelids fluttering shut quickly, his lips made contact with yours. Slightly chapped and cold with nerves, you deepened the kiss and made him panic worriedly, pulling back from you and then licking his lips.

“I-- uh, I…” He sputtered, cupping his hand over his lips. “I think that maybe I like you. Like like, you know, a lot. I don’t know, you make me feel really… warm.”

“Love?” You questioned him, leaning forward.

A small smirk crept on his lips as he held you in his arms, his eyes trained on just you. “I guess I do love you.”

“You guess? Say it. The whole sentence. I want to hear it.”

“What? It.” He joked and you lightly punched him square in the chest. Losing his breath, he cracked out in a boyish and crisp laughter. “I-I’m just teasing, you know that!”

“Say it or you’ll never get my cupcakes again.” You glanced up at him and he sighed, pulling you into his chest (which kind of hurt now, thanks to you, but it always ached when you were around him) and his voice was deep and sent vibrating chills up your spine when he spoke.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“Aha!” You laughed, kissing his cheek. “I don’t have to say it, you’ve already heard it.”

“Oh no, no no, you’re going to say it too! You can’t just-- just make me say it and then not do it yourself.”

“Fine, fine!” You gave up. “I love you too, Varian.”

He smiled with a funny satisfaction that explained how perfect it was, your voice and the way you said it was the exact same he had fantasized about multiple times. You narrowed your eyes mischievous and evilly cackled on the inside of your mind with the idea of a plan forming. “Now,” You returned back to your breathy voice, “what are you going to do to my body?”

“W-Wh -- uh? Wha-- huh?” He stumbled over every single letter, his face completely red even in the darkness. “What-- What did y-you just say? Ah, Jesus, my… my heart is racing.”

“I can feel it.” You said, your fingers tracing over the area where you could feel his heart pumping rapidly. “I think I can feel something _else_ , too.”

“Okay, nope! No, no, no! You’re not teasing me again.” He said, shoving you off of him. You broke into laughter, standing up and straightening yourself and your posture.

“I need to get back to the manor before sunrise. I’ll visit sometime this week.”

“This week?” He whined, taking your wrist. “B-But I love you! I need to see you more often than that.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so busy with chores and then trying to figure out how to free your dad... I’m so swamped. I’ll find time, okay? In the meantime, thank Rapunzel for doing this for us. You know she’s trying really hard to get on your good side.”

“I know.” He whispered as a response. Your hand slipped out of his as you slowly walked out of the cell, leaving him with the tray of cupcakes. Picking up the keys, you locked him back into the cell and made sure it was shut tight before you lingered, watching him pitifully eat another cupcake before you smiled to yourself, heading off. You caught Rapunzel and handed the keys back to her with a sad smile, thanking her and telling her to go talk to Varian for a while so they could get the chance to bond more. Then, you went back outside the castle and back home.

Rolling up your window to your manor, you attempted at climbing in but fell on the floor and quickly shut it, but in the dark shadows of your room, you saw a figure.

“What did I tell you about sneaking out?”

You jumped and squeaked in shock as the man who paid money for you cornered you, grabbing your wrists. You cried, twisting and trying to get out of his grip, but he managed to overrule your strength with his own.

* * *

A week had passed until you were able to go visit Varian again. This time, it was midday and you lied and said you were going to go buy produce, so you left in a rush and raced toward the castle. You interrupted his lunch when you ran into the dungeons, he was biting into a sandwich.

“Y/N!” He muffedly announced, quickly trying to chew and swallow the big bite he just took. “‘M soh happh toh see youh!” He finally swallowed it, smiling widely at you. Standing up, he walked up to the bars and gripped one, reaching for your hand. You drew away slightly, being a little more reserved.

“Varian, how are you doing?” You asked him politely.

“Just about as good as I’ll ever get rotting in a jail cell. Y’know, if you ask me, the princess could invite me to live up there with her as an apology.”

You laughed, talking to him casually through the iron bars. The topic got onto sleep and you stretched, yawning and reporting how tired you felt. He must’ve seen something because he quickly frowned and took your hand roughly with his own, holding you against your will.

“Hey, Varian!--”

Rolling your sleeve up, he looked at your arm. You were bruised and there were even small gashes.

“What happened?” He immediately said, his voice deep. “Did someone do this to you?”

“N-No!” You stammered, quickly pulling back. Defensive, you rolled your sleeve back down and crossed your arms close to your chest.

“You’re acting weird, Y/N. If-- If someone wasn’t hurting you, you wouldn’t be like this. Who is it? I’ll make them pay!”

“Stop! It’s nobody!” You shook your head. “I need to go, anyway.”

“No, wait, please don’t go. Please?” He said, but you were already running from him. Your heart was beating loudly in your chest and you knew you had to get out of there. If Varian knew that your adopter was abusive, he’d grow upset again and you couldn’t risk that. You figured the littlest things could trigger his anger issues so you kept things quiet and didn’t return for another month. Still, you were almost too busy and you began to get invested with more books. By this time, you were both fifteen and you wanted to desperately celebrate his birthday with him, but you heard from Rapunzel’s letters that they had a small party with him. Weeks passing turned ever so slowly into months without you seeing him. Living in the manor, you had strict rules not to visit the castle anymore or go to Old Corona and disobeying orders were proving to be more difficult and not worth it. So, you stayed locked in the house for most of your time, crying yourself to sleep as you thought about failing Varian.

Then, came a letter in the mail. It had no initial address on it which caused it to get thrown down in a big stack of other letters but you picked it up when you noticed a familiar dove symbol on the back of the envelope. You quickly took it upstairs and into your room, hiding away as you tore it open.

_Dear Y/N,_

_It’s been so long since we’ve last talked. I really hope you’re enjoying your new home and I wish you’d come to visit more. Varian talks about you all the time in his cell and some of the guards have even provided him with pencil and paper so he could just draw you. He requested me to paint him a picture of you and so I, of course, obliged, but I just want to tell you that he’s doing much better._

_Varian no longer seems upset with Corona or any of his former friends, but that’s the least of his concerns. He’s wondering when you’ll come back to visit him, but he seems convinced maybe you’re working hard at trying to free his father. I hope that’s the explanation. Nobody’s heard from you in months and we’re all beginning to grow afraid maybe something happened._

_Varian’s therapy has gotten extremely well, he seems to be very cooperative in the sessions and he’s even accepted some of us into the sessions to work things through. (Don’t tell him that I told you this but he says you’re the reason he’s able to wake up in the mornings. I caught him all red-faced like a tomato and it was the cutest thing ever! I really hope I can be there for the wedding.)_

_We all hope to hear from you again and I hope this letter finds you in good health._

_Love,  
Rapunzel_

Sitting back, you sunk down on your bed and sighed. How would you ever get out of this prison? You felt like you were going to be trapped here for the rest of your life. Your thoughts lingered atop of Rapunzel and her similar predicament from the first eighteen years of her life, which determined you. You had to get out of here, and you never wanted to return. Strapping on a hooded cloak, you made sure until the head of the household was asleep until you ushered down the hall and out the front door, breaking into a frantic sprint toward the castle. You so desperately wanted to see Varian, but you had to see the Princess first before anything.

Allowed inside the gates, you quickly walked yourself to her room which was up hundreds of stairs. Finally reaching her door, you knocked on it until it swung open slowly. Her face lit up with joy once she saw you.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?”

“I got your letter and we need to talk.” You said, taking her wrist and pulling her back inside the room before you shut the door. Her happy expression faded quickly once she noted the seriousness in your tone. Sitting down on her bed, you pushed the hood of your cloak back around your neck before you began to explain to her your situation. Sliding your long sleeves up your arms, she gasped and took your arm for examination, bringing it closer to her face as she looked at the scars and deep purple and yellow bruises.

“But… why?” She said worriedly, looking up to you. “Why would you keep that from us?”

“I still need you to stay quiet about it. If Varian finds out, he could have an intense relapse in his health.”

“No! You need to tell him what you just told me, this instant. Then, you’re going to stay the night here and in the morning we’ll take care of your guardian.”

“Wha-- no! I can’t tell him, this will destroy him. Especially if you’re going to throw the man in jail, he’ll just strangle him to death!” You shook your head, tears streaming down your face. “I’m so weak, I can’t even defend myself. I tried but I couldn’t do it.”

“It’s okay.” Rapunzel brought you into her arms lovingly, rubbing your back. “But if you lie to Varian, the consequences could be worse.”

And she was right.

* * *

You walked slowly in the hallways, solemn and quiet. The occasional tap of your heel echoed in your ears and you shut your eyes, emitting a dramatic but soothing sigh as you pulled the dungeon door open, shutting it before walking down the staircase and into the hallway. You dreaded telling him, but you so badly wanted to see his face.

“Hello?” Called a gentle voice from the end of the corridor. “Who is it?”

You realized your heels were making all the noise enough to wake him up, which must’ve what happened. You began to rush your pace until he came into sight, his adorable face peering through the iron bars.

“Oh-- oh my God, Y/N!” He said, gripping the bars. “I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been? I was terrified something had happened…”

You simply unlocked the cell door with the key given to you and swung it open, launching yourself into his arms. With shock, he clumsily fell on the floor before wrapping his arms around you in return. You simply cried on his shoulder, your tears soaking his shirt.

“What’s going on?” He whispered in your ear.

“I’m so sorry.” You replied, looking up to him. Rolling up your sleeves, you spoke about your home life with him very intimately, his eyes trained on you as he listened closely to what you had to say. After finishing, he just pulled you tighter into his grip and leaned against a wall, sighing and staring off in space.

“Why didn’t you just tell me last time?”

“I was scared you’d be upset with him.”

“I’m-- I’m livid. If he was here right now, I think I’d do the same thing to him as he did to you.” His voice grew lower each second and you pushed his face up with the palms of your hands, forcing him to look solely into your eyes.

“I’ll be okay. Rapunzel agreed to help and so she’s going to punish both him and my former matron in the morning.”

“They both deserve the death sentence for hurting you.” He said darkly. “You’re not going to leave me again, are you?”

“No, never. I’m going to stay here at the castle from here on out.”

“I don’t even want you leaving my side.” He said, petting your hair. “I don’t trust being out there. Stay in here with me.”

“For tonight.” You brushed your thumb across his cheek, smiling softly. Curling up in his arms, he stared off in the distance and you could still feel his bubbling anger from outside of his body. For the first night in a long time, you finally fell asleep and even better; in the arms of the person you loved the most. His embrace was much long-awaited and so much warmer than a bed. Nuzzling his chest, you felt his fingers run through your hair right before you dozed off.

Waking up, you heard a soft voice calling out to you. “Y/N? Wake up.”

Looking up, you saw a guard, Pete, outside the cell. He was flushed in the face at the sight of you wrapped in a blanket cuddled around Varian, but he completely went over the sight and kept awkwardly looking around the cell room. “You’re being called to the court.”

“Can I come?” Varian asked, his eyes wide and awake. You had no idea how long he had just been sitting there, watching you peacefully sleep until now. Pete hesitated and you nodded to him, standing up and pulling Varian up to his feet by your side. You swore that maybe he was going to get cuffed, but Pete allowed him to walk freely by your side until you reached the throne room. Standing there was the man who had abused you for months on end, your former matron, the royal family and guard, and finally you and Varian arrived.

“For a fair judgment, we need to conduct a respective trial.” King Frederic said, his voice booming. “Princess Rapunzel reported a human trafficking. Doris, you were once Y/N’s legal guardian, correct?”

“Yes.” She said bitterly.

“Did you treat her rightly so?”

“She was the eldest of the orphans and did most of the chores and work around the place, but she was never hit or abused throughout the duration.” She calmly said.

“And so, when your village was destroyed and you moved here, you sold her off?”

“Only to start a new orphanage.”

Waving through the crowd, people whispered to each other. Even the guards spoke lowly, out of earshot.

“And you,” The King looked to the man who had bought you, “are the now legal guardian of Y/N?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“You realize that the trading and buying of other humans is illegal?”

No response, the King continued on. “Y/N, please step forward and discuss your time staying at his manor.”

You walked forward hesitantly, looking toward the group of people surrounding in the room. Everyone’s eyes fell on you and you noticed Varian looked at you with a small supportive smile.

You talked about your first couple of weeks and how the abuse started. You pulled your sleeves up and discussed them shakily, eyeing the man standing not too far off that continually glared at you. When finished, the entire court sat reluctantly in silence.

“Were you… ever sexually abused?” He asked, slightly lilting his voice and softening it so that the question wasn’t as hard of a smack. You stood there silently, staring at the ground. Varian’s face changed into horror and then extreme anger and you predicted his reaction right before it happened--

“You!--” He yelled at the man, balling his fists up. One of the guards quickly took him by the arms, holding him back. He protested loudly and angrily and you looked up to him, worried his behavior would set him back.

“Varian, it’s okay.” You said softly, reaching out and brushing your hand against his. His eyes met yours and his eyebrows furrowed worriedly, biting back his threats in his throat. You looked to the King and nodded, walking closer as you bent down and took the hem of your skirt, hiking it up and exposing your legs. On them, you had bruises also. You didn’t enjoy being exposed like this and usually, people would react embarrassed but it was nothing like that.

Rapunzel cupped her hands over her mouth, looking at her father for answers.

“Life in prison.” He said, standing up. “But, not in Corona.” He eyed the two standing there. “Guards, contain them.”

The royal guard took the two and pushed them roughly into another room, leaving you all by yourselves. Varian ran up to you, hugging you and you felt his tears soak the side of your neck as he sobbed softly. Rapunzel approached you timidly, hugging you too. Cass and Eugene joined. A sweet gesture that meant the world to you as the King and Queen walked up to you, hugging you separately.

“Thank you so much,” You said to Rapunzel softly. She gave you a warm smile that felt a little bittersweet. Varian took your hands quickly, looking you in the eyes with his sad ones. Wiping the tears from his cheek, you could feel him lean into your touch.

“Varian,” The King addressed, looking at him.

“I know, I know, I’ll get back to the dungeons. I just wanted to-- to be here for Y/N.”

“No.” He said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You have proven yourself enough to me to believe that you’re stable enough to allow you to leave your cell.”

“R-Really?” He stammered, his eyes wide. “Thank you so much! I-I can’t… yes!”

“Varian! That’s so wonderful!” You turned to him, smiling happily. He blushed softly with appreciation and you knew that for some reason, things would turn out so much better in the end from here on out.


	4. promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **warning: consensual sexual themes.  
> **  
>  reader and varian are both now aged up to 17-18.

“Hello, m’lady.” Called out a sweet voice. Rolling your eyes in your bedroom, you placed down the book from your fingers and onto the bed. Turning, you saw Varian standing in the doorway with a small smirk curled on his lips.

“Varian? It’s midnight.”

“Exactly, happy 17th birthday.”

You laughed as he joined, sitting next to to you on the bed. It had been two years you were living here in the castle and you will still trying to research a way to free Varian’s dad from his amber prison. At this point, Varian still had his baby face as he did from two years ago, except now he was at least six foot, which you weren’t expecting him to sprout so fast in the past two years. Growing a whole foot was a big accomplishment that he still flaunted. Even though he physically grew, he was still the adorable child on the inside.

Leaning in, he pressed a warm kiss to your lips, holding something behind him. You broke the kiss, leaning over his shoulder to peer behind his back but he quickly leaned away from you, red-faced.

“No, no, no, no peeking!” He laughed. “I want to see your face when you see this.”

“What? Varian, what did you get me? I swear to God--”

Out from behind his back, he held a small ring in his hand. It was a simple band, of course, but your eyes went wide as you glanced up at him.

“It-- It’s not an engagement ring! I-I can’t a-afford one of those… so this is a p-promise ring.”

“Varian.”

“I just really love yo--you and I want to be with you forever. T-This is really sounding like a proposal, but it’s not, I-I promise.”

“ _Varian._ ”

“Unless you want it to-- to be a propsal? I don’t know. I just want to b-be with you, so ah, please, wear it?”

“Varian!” You shouted, taking his hands. “Even if it’s a macaroni necklace, I’ll wear it for the rest of my life. Thank you so much, this is so sweet.” You wiped your brimming tears quickly, allowing him to push the ring onto your finger. His ocean blue eyes met with yours and you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a deep makeout kiss. You and him weren’t quite intimate, rather you were just as awkward as you were two years ago, but his reaction was to die for. He paused, stiffened, and then placed his gloved fingers on your hip. Running your hands along his jawline, you broke away and gave him a smirk.

“Y/N!”

“Did I embarrass you?”

“A lot--”

“But you liked it?”

“Uh-- yeah-- okay! I really liked it. What else do you want to hear from me?”

“Do you want to… wait?” You asked, placing your hand against his chest. “For marriage?”

“M-muh-marriage?”

“Yes, _muh-marriage,_ we’re getting married, right?”

“I h-hope so! That ring cost me a lot of money, I had to make and sell chemicals and elements and label them as _potions_ and _protection crystals._ ”

You laughed, taking his hand. He squeezed it tightly.

“But don’t worry, we’ll have a really big wedding. I’ve been thinking about it! We should have Raps help, she’s such an amazing artist that I think she could decorate for it. Let’s invite all of Corona, too!” He rambled with a goofy grin on his face.

“I love that you’re so excited about this, Vari, but I think we have something else on our list first.”

His face dropped and he stared down at your entwined fingers. “It’s been almost three years.”

“That’s why we can’t ever give up.”

“We’ve tried everything!” He said sadly. “I don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to free him.”

“We will! And he’ll be there to see how grown up you’ve become and when we get married and have kids and when our kids have kids!” You demanded stubbornly. You pulled him into your chest, allowing him to rest his head easy against your beating heart. He listened and you sighed softly, petting his hair. “You’ve given up. I know you have. But I haven’t.”

“I think maybe it’s time you do.” He whispered, clutching to you. Looking down in horror, you felt a chill sink in as you realized he had completely given up on his promise to his father about saving him. His other arm wrapped around your waist, he shut his eyes. “Happy birthday…” He gently said before drifting off into slumber. You sighed and picked your book back up, resting it on his shoulder as you continued to read. Giving up, you placed the book on your nightstand before you wriggled out from underneath Varian. Now in front of your bookshelf, you carefully scanned the books and a certain one caught your eye. Taking it out of its spot, you read the cover to yourself and then looked at Varian worriedly.

“I know you gave up, but I promised to you that I’d save him.”

Putting the book down and taking it into consideration, you walked on over to your sleeping boyfriend and readied him for bed. Taking off his shoes and socks, gloves, apron, goggles, and eventually his pants, you tucked him in bed before crawling in yourself and sliding up beside him, holding him as you shut your eyes.

* * *

You must’ve woken up when he did, because he rustled beside you and you heard him sharply inhale and hold his breath for a couple moments before your eyes fluttered open, looking at his.

“Y/N? What am I doing half-nak--naked in your b-bed?”

You smiled playfully, sitting up and allowing the strap of your nightgown to slide gracefully down your shoulder. You watched his eyes trail after it and then focus on the center of your chest as you leaned over. “You don’t remember?” You whispered sensually, sending goosebumps across his skin. “Oh, you had me crying your name all night.”

“Aha, I, er-- whaaa?” He stuttered, trying to lean away from you. Your hand placed firmly against his chest and pushed him against the pillow as you straddled him. He froze up under you, his entire face blood red with embarrassment.

“Need me to jog your memory?” You asked, then began to gently grind yourself down into him. He suddenly bit down on his lip, wincing slightly. “Varian,” You breathily moaned, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling yourself against his ear. “It feels so good.”

You decided to call off the act when he began to pant, nearly hyperventilating. You rolled off of his lap, laughing to yourself. “Gotcha! You should’ve seen your face!”

“Je-Jeez, Y/N! You’re always d-doing that to me!” He said in a high-pitched and whiny voice. His voice cracked slightly which made you giggle even more. Frowning with acute humiliation, he took your wrists and pinned you to the bed. Climbing on top of you, he seemed very shaky and nervous but it definitely took you by surprise. Leaning down, he pressed his lips down onto yours and pushed his thumb against your jaw, tilting it up. Parting his lips, he aggressively began to kiss you, his tongue exploring your own mouth. Feeling a heat rush to your face, you shut your eyes helplessly as his other hand took the hem of your nightgown, pulling it up until--

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Cried a loud voice as the door slammed open. Rapunzel raced in and immediately screamed, covering her eyes. “Oh my God, I didn’t mean--”

Varian literally flew off of you, launching himself onto the floor. Groaning in pain, he slowly sat up and peered over the bed like a scared animal at Rapunzel. She was trying to find her way out of the room. Wiping the saliva from your lips, you quickly got up.

“Wait, Raps, nothing was happening!”

“I beg to differ!” She squeaked. Eugene came barreling in with a three-decker cake and confusedly glanced around the room at the scene unfurling. “His tongue was IN your mouth!”

“What?” Eugene asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who's tongue in who’s what now?”

“NOTHING! I didn’t see a thing, okay? Okay. It didn’t happen, Rapunzel.” She began talking to herself and you facepalmed.

“Just wait outside!” You demanded and they skittered out of the room. Looking at Varian from the other side of the room, you gave him a death glare. He jumped in surprise and gave you a weak-willed smile.

“I’m going to hang out with Raps and Cass, you’re not allowed to come.” You said, frowning at him.

“A-Are you really mad at me? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that--”

“Oh, Vari,” You said with a small chuckle, walking up to him and taking his face in your hands. “I’m not mad! I just want to leave you thinking about how close you were to having me right then and there.”

* * *

Your birthday went normally, but all the while you were with Rapunzel and Cassandra, your mind was still stuck on the book you had looked at last night. A part of you told you it was a last resort and the other part screamed not to stoop that low. When you returned to the palace late in the day, you returned to your room and smelled something… burning? Frowning, you opened the door and saw Varian leaning over and lighting candles with a gadget in his hand. He saw you and quickly straightened his back.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to return for at least another hour!”

“There weren’t a lot of crowds out so we got to get a lot done. More importantly, what in the hell are you doing?”

“I wanted to surprise you… with a dinner.” He said softly, exposing the table set up out on your balcony. It was so romantic with roses and candles and even glasses of some of the King and Queen’s expensive wine. You suspected that he stole it but you didn’t say anything.

“Oh my God.” You murmured, walking into the room. “Where did you… learn to be this romantic?”

“Eugene, aha, he’s quite the romantic type. Go figure.” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Care to eat, m’lady?”

“Of course.” You smiled, taking his hand as he led you to the table. Sliding into your seat which he held out for you, he sat across you and gazed lovingly into your eyes as he carefully poured you a cup of wine. He had made you dinner which was amazing as always and you began to grow tipsy from the amount of drinks you consumed. He was even more of a lightweight, already drunk by his second glass. Having to help him back inside after cleaning up, he collapsed on your bed in a fit of giggles.

“You know,” he slurred, looking up at you and propping his head on his hand. “you are so beautiful. Did I ever tell you that? Are you dating anyone, muh’lady?”

“Yes, you.” You laughed, looking over at him.

“Really? I am SUCH a lucky guy!” His head fell down on your pillow and his voice was muffled until he finally sat up again. Picking up your pillow, he inhaled deeply. “It smells like you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeahh.”

“I love you so much, Y/N, you’re the perfectest person on the planet. When you left this morning, I was so _bored_. I fell asleep on your bed and it smelled so much like you… I had this dream and you were under me, begging for me…”

“Sounds like fun.” You mused, watching him roll over on his back.

“Yeah, but I still feel so warm… I really want you,” He muttered, his half-lidded eyes staring at you. You watched him and finally began to unbutton your dress, lifting it up over your head and throwing it to the floor. A lazy smirk appeared on his face and he propped himself up against the wall as you crawled over him, sitting down calmly on his lap before kissing him hotly. His ungloved fingers carefully groped your body and when you parted from his lips, he moaned your name needily. His arms wrapped underneath yours and he clumsily tried to unhook your bra, but he couldn’t figure it out. You turned around for him and pulled your hair out of the way of his face as he focused, managing to unhook it. You carelessly tossed it to the side and turned back around. His eyes went wide as he stared and you placed your arm over your chest.

“You pervert.” You breathed and he leaned in closer, placing his hand against your arm.

“Ca--Can I… see?” He asked, like his usual self now. Stuttering and fumbling over his words, you nodded and confidently placed your arm down by your side. “Wow,” He sighed, running his fingers along the mounds of your breasts. He watched you stifle but continued to play, fascinated with your body.

“H-Hey, um… Vari? We’re drunk, we shouldn’t.”

“Okay.” He said, letting go of you. Stretching, you laid down and he laid beside you, resting his head on your chest again. He loved to be the little spoon and pampered one, you noticed, as you ran your fingers calmly through his black hair. With him by your side, you felt yourself lull into a deep sleep.

* * *

“O-Oh my sweet royalty in Co-Co-Corona!” Shouted a sudden voice. You groaned and opened your eyes, looking at Varian who was sitting up beside you. He had pulled the comforter back and seen a sight that his drunken self had but not his sober self, so he was in for a surprise. You slowly sat up and he backed away slightly.

“I have a headache, be quiet.” You complained.

“That’s the least of your worries! Do you remember what we did last night?”

“Yes, keep your clothes on.” You rolled your eyes. “We didn’t do anything. You saw my boobs, yeah, but--”

“Th-That’s not nothing! I can _still see them!_ ”

“You were pretty handsy last night. Sure you want me to cover up?”

He hesitated and tenderly reached his fingers out, stretching his fingers toward you and gently wrapping his palm comfortably around it. You watched him with a relaxed expression although it drove you wild. He gave it a gentle squeeze and you quietly whimpered with arousal. His eyes darted up toward you and he repeated it again, watching you suddenly squirm. You took his wrist, panting wildly.

“Vari, don’t tease me like this…”

“O-Oh?” He gently let go, running his hands onto your shoulders. “Sorry.”

“I mean, you either keep going or stop.” You said. “If you’re not ready.”

“N-Not yet.” He got up and you took the blanket, covering yourself before he bid you goodnight, since it was still dark out, and kissed you on the cheek before he went back to his own room. Pulling on a shirt that belonged to him, you drank in the smell of alcohol and Varian still wafting around in the room before you stood up and approached your bookshelf.

Taking a book off of the shelf, you stared at it cautiously before nodding to yourself. You had to do this, it was your last resort. Crawling back into bed, you sat down and opened it, reading it in a whisper to yourself.

_“Latin Incantations.”_


	5. possessed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **another warning, angst and slight sexual themes. at this point, almost every chapter is going to be slightly or definitely nsfw**

“Varian?” You distantly called, walking into the lab. He looked up from his current project and grinned widely, leaning against something coolly.

“Heey, Y/N,” He said, but it fell onto the floor and shattered, causing him to wobble and gain his balance again. Burning with embarrassment, he quickly straightened and shuffled away from his flasks. “What’s up?” He shoved his goggles up onto his head, pulling his long bangs out of his face. You approached him and pulled them back down gently, smiling.

“Keep them on, you’ll forget to pull them down and the fumes will affect your vision.” You said. “The lab looks good,”

“Right! They renovated it and gave me a system of my _own_ vents. Neat, huh? I just didn’t want anything traveling into other rooms, y’know?”

“Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about your father.”

“Y/N…” He said, “I told you to just let it go.”

“No! I promised you that I’d save him.”

“And I promised him the same thing, too! It’s been three years, I think we just need to give up--”

“You used to care so much about promises! This meant the world to you!”

“It still does, that-- that will never change, Y/N, I miss my dad so much! But, you’ve devoted so much of your time to him and I think maybe it’s just time to give it a break.”

“No.” You said coldly, crossing your arms. “I think I found something.”

His eyes lit up but then he quickly looked back down at the floor, shifting his weight foot to foot as he caved in. “We always say that.” He mumbled with a dejected look scrawled on his face.

“I’m serious this time. We’re going to leave at dusk, just the two of us. Cass has granted us going alone and the day’s almost over.”

Without listening to what else he had to say, you quickly turned and left the room. You packed a small bag in your room, picking up the latin book before placing it neatly in there. Sighing, you knew the consequences were extreme, but you wanted him to have his father. You made a promise. You never broke promises when it came to Varian. And, so, at nightfall, he knocked on your door wearing a cloak and an exhausted expression. The two of you headed out of the kingdom on a horse-drawn cart, toting through the ever night that blanketed the world. Watching Varian stare down at his gloves, you reached out and gently touched his hand, comfortingly smiling at him.

“I love you.” You said softly as the horse began to walk through the woods. Varian’s eyes glanced up at you and you watched a warmness emerge onto his face, causing it to flush as the corners of his lips quirked upwards.

“I love you too.” He said awkwardly back.

You only wished you had more time with him.

When you stopped at Old Corona, you saw it thriving again. The black rocks were gone and it was rebuilt from rubble, but it was still night, so the liveliness was dying down as people went to bed. Crossing over the hill, you saw Varian’s mansion off in the distance and how abandoned it looked. Forbidden to be crossed, the property was now owned by the royal family for a temporary situation-- hopefully. You got off the cart, petting the horse as you and Varian headed inside. He shivered from the memories, clinging to his own arms.

“Okay, Varian, you’ll need to stand back. Whatever I do, you just need to follow through.”

“You-- You haven’t even told me what you’re doing.” He said lamely, standing off in the corner of his old lab. You walked closer to the covered amber and pulled the blanket off, tossing it to the side before you stood back, opening and fingering through your bag. Beforehand, though, you paused and turned back to him, racing up to your boyfriend and wrapping him in your arms, passionately kissing him. It definitely threw him off guard, but he quickly kissed you back just as lovingly. Pulling away, you gazed into his eyes and your face fell.

“What’s going on?” He asked simply, tugging your chin up.

“Just, stay there.” You commanded, backing up as you pulled the book and a knife out of your bag. His eyes widened and you could see he was visibly nervous around sharp objects. Flipping through the book, you laid it on the floor as you looked at a diagram on a specific page. Taking the knife, you swallowed heavily before slicing into your palm. Crying out in pain, you doubled over and held your hand close to your stomach.

“Y/N! W-What are you doing?” He stammered, stepping toward you but you shook your head.

“Stay there!” You snapped. “You can’t get in the way.”

He stood still in horrified silence as you kneeled down on the floor, painting on the floor with the center of your palm. Your crimson blood coated in thick layers on the floor, you stood up and picked the book up into your shaky hands.

“Please, answer me.”

“Necromancy.” You said softly, turning your back to him. You didn’t want to see his scared face anymore.

“Necro-- what? You’re not serious. Come on, magic doesn’t ex--”

“I’m going to trade my life for his.” You whispered.

“Y/N. _Don’t._ Are you listening to me?”

You began to speak in a low voice, reading straight from the book. At first, nothing happened, but you pressed your gushing hand to the amber, leaving a handprint of your own blood, and the amber and the design you drew on the floor began to glow brightly. A strong wind pushed Varian against the wall and he watched in amazement, tears falling down his cheeks in hot streams. You could hear his distant protests but you focused on reading.

_This is the only way._ You thought. _I have to do this._

“Y/N!” Varian cried. “Please, rethink this!”

You finished reading and suddenly the room flashed white, sending you into a blindness. You winced, feeling a sharp pain wreak all over your body. Screaming out in agony, you dropped to your knees and scratched at the floor. You heard a sound similar to the shattering of glass and felt many places on your body where you were being pierced. Finally, the world faded into nothingness for you and you fell limp against the cold floor, in the puddle of your own blood.

* * *

“Y/N!” Varian sobbed when the light simmered down. From the steam and smoke rolling up in the room, he could see two figures lying on the floor and little amber shards strewn about. He raced up to you, heaving you into his arms as he checked for a pulse. There was hardly one, but he looked around frantically and screamed for help. Then, not two steps away, he saw another person lying face-down on the floor with a paper clutched in their fingers. He gently rested you back down, stepping over you and pushing the man over, exposing his father’s calm face. “D-Dad?”

There was no response, but he was breathing heavily through his nose. Hugging his father’s head into his chest, he quickly stood up and raced out of the lab, rushing out into the streets. Calling for help, the entire town of Old Corona came to his urgency and helped him haul you and his father into a safe carriage as he drove away back toward the kingdom.

It took him little time, the horses he had galloped faster than anything as he continually whipped them. Bolting down the cobblestone bridge and through the kingdom, he witnessed people turn on their lights and glance out of windows and doors at him as he raced on by loudly.

“Open the gate!” He demanded before he reached the gate of the castle. The guards, recognizing who it was, did so and quickly shut the gates behind the carriage. Varian hopped off, talking to the guards about what happened. Nodding, one of them raced off and alerted the royal family and basically everyone in the palace. Then, the two bodies were hauled off to the emergency care wing. He raced after them, running into the infirmary as the bodies were examined by doctors.

“They’re both still alive.” Reported one doctor to another.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you have to leave.” A nurse gently spoke to him, ushering Varian out of the room.

* * *

He sat down in the hall for hours, most of the time he was asleep or curled up in a ball sobbing to himself, but eventually Rapunzel wandered down the hall and sat down next to him. When he lifted his head, his eyes were red and puffy and his face was drenched with tears and snot. Grimacing but still patting him lightly on the back, she talked to him.

“I heard what happened.”

“Why’d she do it?” He bawled, sucking in through his nose.

“She wanted to keep her promise to you. She freed your father, didn’t she?”

“At what cost? I _love_ her so much, Raps, I’m so scared.”

“I know.” She whispered, pulling him into a hug. “Why don’t we go out and do something? Get your mind off of it.”

“I can’t leave them here! What if something happens while I’m gone?”

“I understand.” She sighs. “I only wish my hair still had its healing power.”

He looked at her hair that was tied tightly into its usual braid and he thought the same. Suddenly, the door swung open and the nurse glanced around until she saw the two of you.

“They’re stabilized, you may come in now.”

He stood up and rushed in, Rapunzel following shortly after. Looking at his two most dearly loved ones lying in bed, he felt his heart wrench as he sat down between their beds. The doctors looked uncertain and a little on edge.

“Well, your father seems to be in good condition, no damage at all and in perfect health but he is in a coma. And Y/N is going to survive, but we’re afraid she wasn’t very respondent. She has external bleeding and her heart rate is slowed and weak. It’ll take awhile for her to wake up.”

“Thank you.” Rapunzel gently said, dismissing them from the room. Varian placed his head in his hands. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Princess, I’m not going to relapse.” He said, looking up at her. “If anyone here’s to blame, it’s me for allowing this.”

“Nooo, Varian, listen to me. You’re strong and so is Y/N. It’s a miracle she’s even alive. She saved your father, too. They’ll wake up someday, I know it.”

* * *

A week passed. Varian waited almost every day in the infirmary for you to wake up, and when you finally did, he was the first thing you saw again.

Fluttering your eyes open, you stared blankly around the room. Your body was covered in bandages and you saw Varian look up from his seat and bound toward you, cupping your face and smiling with tears streaking down his cheeks. “Y/N!” He cried. “You’re awake!”

You didn’t reply, but he pulled you into a tight hug and began to press soft kisses to your lips. You didn’t react then. He leaned back, looking at you worriedly.

“What’s the matter?”

You didn’t respond.

“Y/N? Can you hear me?”

You blinked at him.

“Oh my God…” He whispered, finally understanding. He turned and rushed out of the room, returning five minutes later with a doctor. Whispering in a low tone with the doctor, the doctor talked to you for a few moments before testing your responses to things. To light, to sound, to the gentle tap on the knee. Your body was still responding, but you never uttered a single word.

“I think she might have had some brain damage during the spell.” The doctor said, leaning up. “She might be permanently injured and rendered unable to speak.”

* * *

When you finally were able to get out of the infirmary, Varian was informed that you had to be closely watched since you were mentally unresponsive. So, Varian moved into your room with you and had to help you do a lot of basic tasks. Some of the time, you’d do things on your own, like play with objects on the desk or move things around, maybe even take off an article of clothing. You were like a child that needed to be supervised and Varian was bogged down with that task.

“Okay, you need to get some sleep, it’s really late.” He said. “You shouldn’t have stayed up. Foot.” He demanded and took your foot, kneeling down in front of you. He slipped off your shoe, then the other one, and said, “Arms.” Before having to voluntarily lift up your arms and unbutton your blouse, slipping it out from being comfortably tucked in your skirt. He slipped it off of you, growing red-faced when he neared your chest, having to pull on the band of your skirt. “I don’t like having to do this… it-- it’s a lot for me to handle, I guess. But, I promised I’d be there for you and this is what you’d do for m-me.”

You lifted your hand up, pushing it against the back of his head until he toppled over onto you. He let out an alarmed yelp before pinning you against the plush blankets, a band of red crossing cheek to cheek. “Y/N! Now isn’t the time t-to play.”

He stopped and hesitated, looking down at you. “But… maybe…” He whispered, “If I do something, you’ll… react?”

Reaching down, he gently grasped the mound of your breast in his hand. You definitely reacted, biting your lip and shutting an eye. Raising his eyebrows, he watched as you let out a small whine.

“Y/N? Come on, speak to m-me here.” He pleaded. You didn’t speak, only needily arch your back into his hands. He quickly got himself off of you, shaking his head. “No. I’m not doing that. Not when you’re like this.”

Sitting up, you frowned toward him. He knew he wanted to so badly, but he restrained himself before slipping your nightgown on over your head and tucking you into bed. After you fell asleep, he sat down in your desk and laid his head down, gently crying to himself. His weeping eyes fell upon the book that you had used to cast the spell and he gripped it, staring at it longingly. Would it really have been better if you hadn’t used it? Standing back up, he took the book and placed it in his bag before crawling in bed next to you, cuddling against your sleeping figure.

* * *

Groaning, Varian rolled over but felt a sudden emptiness. Frowning, his eyes slowly opened and he glanced around, feeling the bed for you, but you weren’t there. Shooting upwards, he suddenly saw a black silhouette standing on the balcony. The wind was blowing, a freezing breeze that scared him even more than he already was. Standing up, he rushed over to you.

“Y/N! What are you doing out here? It’s fre--freezing.”

You didn’t respond, looking out to the moon that slowly sunk in the sky now. How long had you been awake out here? How had you even gotten out here in the first place? You had to have opened the doors then walked out, but he figured you were incapable of doing that anymore.

“Come on, let’s get back to bed.” He whispered, taking your hand. Slowly turning your head to look at him, he felt chills run down his spine as he watched you make eye contact very strictly. “Y… Y/N?”

“Varian.” You spoke, but in a low voice.

“Y/N! Oh my God!” He said, embracing you in a hug. You looked to the side with annoyance. “I can’t believe it, you’re-- you’re talking! To me! This is so great!”

“Y/N?” You tilted your head as you watched the poor boy wipe his face, tears streaming dramatically. “She’s gone.”

“Wh-What?”

“Can’t you read latin? The book says it all.”

Varian stood back, his eyes wide. He looked at his bag in the other room and then back at you, who was obviously not you any longer.

“What happened?” He asked, feeling his throat tighten. “I-I don’t understand.”

“The spell she casted traded her life for another’s. Nobody’s performed the spell in centuries, so I took her body as a vessel.” You looked down at your nails, smiling deviously.

“Who are you?” He demanded, afraid of hurting you but knowingly standing there that it definitely wasn’t you.

“AGH!” You cried out, dropping to your knees and sobbing suddenly. “Vari-- please--” You looked up, “Help!”

“Y/N!” He shouted, kneeling down and lifting you up into his arms. “What’s going on?”

“My-- my body… I’m trying to fight it.” You whispered, gripping his hair in your fingers.

“Don’t give up!” He said hurriedly, tears racing down his cheeks again. “I love you, I love you so much…”

You let out a shrill scream that echoed outside on the castle towers and walls, writhing around. Extreme pain spread across your body as you fought internally with the other being that possessed your body. It was difficult because whatever it was was strong and made excruciating pain sear through deep layers in your skin, washing over you like constant waves of heat.

The front door burst open and guards poured into the room, along with Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra. They all saw you on the Balcony.

“Step away from her!” Demanded a guard. Varian, confused and terrified, gently laid you down as you kicked the air and thrashed around. The Captain took Varian, pulling his arms behind his back very roughly.

“What’s going on?” Rapunzel said, running up. “Varian, you didn’t hurt her--”

“NO!” He shouted to the rest of you. “Som--Something’s g-going on with her! P-please save her.”

“Is she having a seizure?” Cassandra asked, beckoning to another guard who quickly retrieved a pillow. Cassandra lifted your head and hair, gently placing it down beneath it and trying to hold your body still from hurting yourself.

“No!” Varian shook his head, choking on his sobs. “Sh--She’s possessed! The spell-- the spell she used… s-something… someone… pos-po-possessed her!”

“Quick, the infirmary!” Rapunzel shouted, and the guards nodded. Finally, your body fell limp and helplessly, Varian watched your body get carried out of the room. Staying behind, Rapunzel consoled him as he sobbed in her arms, worried about the future.

* * *

Two days later, you were strapped down to a bed in the infirmary. Sometimes, you’d awake, but you’d be as blank as ever and you wouldn’t respond to any questions. Varian, Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra all helped research on Latin and even managed to get in contact with a professional that would arrive that day. Sitting at a table anxiously, Varian kept staring at his hands.

“Don’t worry, V,” Rapunzel said, sitting down beside him. “We’ll save Y/N.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know, it’s scary. But you’ve come so far.” She said softly, holding the book in her hands. “You were so upset many years ago because of your father. Now, he’s recovering in our hospital wing and you have a wonderful girlfriend who loves you so much.”

“So much that she’s dying.” He muttered. “She was abused and neglected and even I didn’t show her much appreciation and she traded her own life for my father’s.”

Rapunzel smiled warmly, rubbing his back. “We’ll save her.”

“What if we can’t?”

“Don’t think about that.”

“I can’t! I have to think about it, Raps, because there’s a good possibility it’ll happen.” He snapped, looking down.

“You must be the Princess,” Spoke a deep voice. A young woman, the translator, sat down at the table.

“Yes! Here’s the book. V, what page did she turn to?”

“Here…” He said slowly, flipping through the pages until he recognized the symbol in one of the pages and pointed to it. He then explained the situation about his dad and how you freed him. The translator nodded and read the page, her eyebrows raising.

“Where’d she get the book?”

“It was in the restricted section.” Rapunzel said. “She must’ve gone through there.”

“With the intention of giving her soul to a powerful demon?” The translator said, glancing upwards. “It says here that Egdraz is an entity, similar to that of Zhan Tiri, who released hellfire upon Corona. He was able to possess any human he needed to, and used the body as a vessel to create uprisings and wars. But, the only way to summon him is to use this spell. He will grant any request given before the prayer, which is likely what Y/N did. She wanted to save Quirin, so she did so and then offered her body up.”

“Did she know what she was getting into?”

“Clearly she knew how to read Latin. Maybe not that well, though.”

“It was her last resort.” Varian said, hanging his head. “She kissed me before she performed the spell-- she knew exactly what she was doing.”

“How do we get rid of Egdraz?” Rapunzel said worriedly.

“It says that he was eventually locked away by a powerful wizard.”

“A wizard? Who?” Rapunzel asked, looking to Varian. “If he’s still alive--”

“A man named Azrael. He lived five hundred years ago.”

“Oh.”

“He might have descendants?” Varian asked, looking to her hopefully. She nodded. “Can you find anything else about Azrael?” Asking the translator, she shrugged.

“Maybe. Let’s look through the library first.”

* * *

It took a month to fully finish research on the Wizard Azrael, but they managed to get a family name and crest and so Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra all went out on their journey to go looking for his descendants. Varian volunteered to stay behind in case you needed him or his father finally woke up. You were finally let out of your restraints a couple weeks into being held down to a hospital bed and returned to your room, where Varian took care of you warily now. He knew you were battling against Egdraz, but there had been no sign of struggle in a month now and he was beginning to fret.

“Y/N, time for your bath.” He said, walking into the room. “I’ve got a nurse to help you.” He was always like that, never able to undress you completely and bathing you. He just didn’t feel comfortable that you weren’t… mentally there… to see him do that. So, the nurse obliged and helped you into the bathroom, washing you for an hour and returning you with a big fluffy robe on. The nurse said she had slightly dressed you so that Varian wouldn’t have to see anything and left after he thanked her. Taking your hand and leading you to the wardrobe, he opened it and picked out a cute pink nightgown.

“Robe.” He stated, untying it and allowing it to slide down your shoulders and onto the floor. He stood back, looking at your body before a sudden whirl of heat entered his cheeks and he quickly focused on getting the dress on you. Then, hanging up your robe after dressing you, he looked down at you with sad eyes. “Y/N… we’ll save you.” Then, he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you.

_Her hair smells so good…_ She _smells so good. I wish this would be over so I could just kiss her normally._ But, he leaned down and placed an innocent kiss on your cheek. “I have to go check the lab, sit down.” He said before leading you to your desk, sitting you down. “Stay here, okay?” Then, he quickly jogged out the door and down the hall. He had to make sure to turn everything in the lab off. When he made sure, then he quickly ran back and saw you sitting in the same seat. Sighing in relief, he then lead you to your bed to tuck you in. You laid down and whined a little, clutching your stomach.

“Having the pains again? Maybe I should go get the nurs--”

You emitted a scream again, having another episode. Panicked, he quickly tried to hold down your arms. Since that first one, you’ve had two others, but they weren’t as bad as this one. Your screamed pierced his ears and caused his head to throb mightily, making him sway in pain. Your screams turned rough and gurgly and he paused, looking at you with big teary eyes. You tried to turn on your side and so he allowed you to do so and you began to cough on your pillow. Blood splattered out and your screams turned silent. Guards and nurses rushed in.

“Wh-What’s going on?” He sobbed as he was torn away from your clutch.

“She’s torn her trachea, coughing up blood and lost her voice. What made the episode happen?”

“I-I don’t know! She was having pains right when she laid down.”

“Hospital, now.” One of the doctors said. The others nodded and lifted her up yet again, hauling her out of sight. Heart shattered, Varian dropped to the floor and cradled his head in his palms. His back bumping against the desk, he heard things rattle on it and then something fell off on the floor beside him. Glancing at it, it was a piece of parchment. He frowned, picking it up.

_Vari,_

_I can’t keep fighting much. He can’t read English, he does not know._

_Please help me. I know all that you’re doing for me. I love you so much._

_Someday, we’ll get married. Have kids. Grow old. I know it, you do too._

_Don’t ever give up._

He gripped the note tightly in his fingers and stood up, placing it back on the table. He was going to help, no matter what. And he _was_ going to save you. No matter what it took.


	6. better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, this chapter is super long?? im not sure if I planned it to be like a bajillion words long, but it has the most dreaded **sex scene** in it, and I will put some hard rules and a warning right before it happens so if you want to skip it, you can, this is going to be the only written one that I will do for this fanfic;; it's always so embarrassing writing this stuff, esp when you age up a canon 14 year old;;;?? so yeah enough said, this chapter is hella long and it has nsfw. don't read in public unless you have a death wish.

“This is it.” Cassandra said, sliding her sword neatly back into its sheath. Looking at an old cottage in the woods, Rapunzel pulled her hood back around her neck with a frown.

“It’s so…”

“Small? Yeah.” Eugene said.

“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.” Cassandra began striding up to the door, knocking on it. She stepped back, waiting a couple of moments before the door swung open slowly.

“Yes?” Asked an older man.

“Are you Calvin?” Asked Rapunzel, stepping forward. “Descendant of Wizard Azrael?”

“Who’s asking?” He grumbled, staring at the three strangers.

“Princess Rapunzel of Corona.” She curtseyed. “We have a problem.”

“Oh, Princess, I know why you’re here. Egdraz is back, isn’t he?”

“Yes, do you have a spell for that?” She asked excitedly, smiling. He invited them in, shutting the door behind them.

“No. I’m afraid I’m not a wizard of any kind, Princess. My grandfather Azrael was born with magical powers and was highly gifted. Over the generations, that has slowly been lost.”

Everyone looked down sadly.

“But,” He said, looking at them with a raised finger, telling them to pause, “I do have the old spellbooks. Kept in my family for centuries, preserved and extremely delicate. I’m afraid that I cannot allow them to go past these walls.”

“We need to take them with us.” Cassandra stepped in, looking worriedly at him. “Corona is in danger and a friend is dying.”

Calvin hesitantly opened a door to a room. The room was cluttered with different antiques but placed in the middle, in a small locked box, was a book. He retrieved it, pulling it out and examining it.

“Please,” Rapunzel pleaded, clasping her hands together. Eugene kept looking around in wonder. “We can pay you, do anything…”

“I don’t want payment, your highness. This book is precious to me and my family--”

“We need to get that book and to the kingdom, like, _rápido._ ” Eugene said and Cassandra nudged him in the chest. Calvin looked down at the book then the three basically on their knees begging and he sighed.

“Page two hundred is the spell. It’s in English, but you’ll need a person born from magic to perform the spell for it to work completely. It will banish Egdraz back and your friend will be freed.” He held out the book.

“Thank you so much,” Rapunzel breathed. “We will return the book quickly as possible.”

“Actually… it’s not useful for me or my children. The magic in our family has bled away through time, it should be in your hands, Princess.”

“Awesome, great, let’s get out of here!” Eugene said, Cassandra knocked the breath out of him again.

“We appreciate it.” Cassandra smiled warmly. Rapunzel held the book close.

“What made you change your mind?”

“You need it more than I do. Please, keep it safe.”

“We will.”

* * *

Varian rushed into the hospital wing, storming through and not listening to anyone he passed by. Slamming the door open, he walked in. You were being restrained to the bed again, but your body was just lying there, obviously you had passed out again. The doctor looked up worriedly.

“Her throat is torn from the screaming, but should heal on its own in a week.”

“Alright.” He said firmly, sitting down.

He heard groaning from beside him and he blinked, looking over at the other bed. His father laid there, his hands twitching. Frowning, Varian stood up slowly to his feet and the doctor rounded the side of the bed.

“Son?” His father asked, his eyes squinting at Varian.

“Dad…” He whispered, tears forming in his eyes again. “Dad!” He wrapped his arms around Quirin, who let out a small laugh, hugging his son back. “You’re awake!”

“Let me go tell the others.” The doctor said gently, excusing himself from the scene. Quirin, who seemed like he was in a lost daze, kept looking around the room.

“Where am I?”

“Dad… so much has happened.”

“Varian?” He asked, looking at him. “What’s going on?”

And so, Varian explained everything. How many years he had been trapped in the amber, how he and Y/N tried saving him multiple times, how finally Y/N gave her life to save Quirin’s. Quirin managed to sit up and look around the room at everything’s he missed. It took hours of talking between the two for the reunion to feel complete. Just as Varian felt so empty without you, he now had his dad.

“Look at how much you’ve grown, Varian…” Quirin sighed, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m almost as tall as you now, isn’t that great? You thought maybe I’d stop growing when I was fourt--”

“No, son, not that.” He sighed. “I mean, emotionally. I’m so proud of you.”

“Proud…” Varian smiled. “B-But I kidnapped the queen! Tried to hurt the Princess! All of Corona!”

“And you left that behind. That proves how strong you really are. I’m sorry I ever underestimated you.” He brought Varian into a loving hug, squeezing him tightly. Varian cried gently into his father’s shoulder as they hugged and Varian suddenly realized just how much he had truly missed his father.

* * *

It took a week for Rapunzel to return to her kingdom, but she finally did so with her two friends. Varian met them at the gate with the news of his father waking up and so they retrieved the book, smiling happily. Things were going great.

“So, we need someone who was born of magic to perform it.” Cassandra said, looking around the group.

“Oh, not me.” Varian raised up his hands. “I strictly do alchemy.”

“No, I mean Rapunzel.”

“B-But I’m not a wizard.” Rapunzel shrugged, looking away. “What if I can’t do it?”

“We have to try.”

And so, they devised a plan. They cleared a room and set it up with the correct decorations and needed items for the spell to work. Painting a blue design on the floor, Rapunzel stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead as Eugene and Cassandra placed candles representing the photo on the book.

“We’ll have to bind her to the floor so she doesn’t escape.” Varian said, looking down. “But, how do we get Egdraz to comply? He’s bound to notice that something’s up when we tie her hands and legs together.”

“Blindfold her?” Eugene suggested.

“Even fishier.”

“Say you’re going to give her a surprise. Pretend that you don’t know what’s going on and say something like, ‘Y/N, I love you and I want you so badly…’” Eugene blew kissy faces to Varian, who recoiled with a disgusted expression.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel hit him lightly in the shoulder. “Not funny.”

“That might work, though.” Cassandra sat up from the candles. “Egdraz won’t suspect anything, he might even assume you’re just doing something weird to Y/N. I say it’s our best bet if you even want to get close to her.”

And so, the plan was set into motion. The room was heavily guarded outside and Varian went to retrieve you from your bedroom, where you were peacefully sleeping. He managed to wake you up first, red-faced and embarrassed as he held up rope and a cloth to cover your eyes.

“Y/N… I’m sorry about waking you but I can’t hold my--myself back any l-longer.”

You blinked.

“I really need you. But, not h-here. I picked a place w-where I want you to giv-- give your body to me. So, you-- you’re going to o-o-obey every command, got it?”

And with that, he began to tie your wrists together, occasionally pressing hot kisses on your knuckles and arms. Your expression was still blank, which meant that it was definitely working. Then, he tied the cloth around your eyes and you could feel his hands needily grope you in certain places. Then, gripping your arm, he helped you to your feet and began to lead you down the hall outside. Up ahead, he could see the guards outside the room and they fell completely silent as Varian approached the door.

“Okay, we’re here.” He gently whispered, walking forward and opening the door. Everyone in the room froze immediately and he looked around it with wide eyes. Forcing you to walk in the middle of the room, he helped you lie down in the center of the insignia on the floor. “N-Now, I’m going to tie your ankles…” He took the rope, roughly pushing your feet together and tying them together tightly. “I-I’m so sorry, I just… can--can’t hold myself back.”

Standing up, he quickly rushed to the other side of the room. Nodding to Rapunzel, she stepped forward with the book in her arms.

“Egdraz, evil spirit and demon possessing this young girl’s body, I demand you to stop.” She spoke in a harsh tone. Suddenly, your body froze up. Then, you began to scream and thrash around in the ropes, trying to free yourself. “The body, mind, and soul are her own, the victim purified of sins. I compel you to be in prison, forced to remain in desolation, and I shall not fail, and in the other powers in heaven, where no one else is human, grants me my power. You will leave her body at the same time of the kingdom, return to the Limbo you were sent from. I banish you!” She chanted. As she talked, the paint began to glow an unearthly blue hue, casting long fuzzy shadows on the walls. You let out a scream of pain as the spell was completed, and Rapunzel’s hair began to glow intensely also. The candle flames flickered and rose dramatically, waving and dancing as you opened your lips, a blue ghostly figure flying out. The air crackling, the figure was masculine and terrifying, twisting and turning in agony, as it finally exploded into the air, disappearing. The flames suddenly died down and the wind in the room slowed, stopping eventually. Rapunzel dropped the book and fell down to her knees, groaning as Eugene caught her. Your body fell limp in the ropes. Varian rushed over to you once the symbol on the floor stopped glowing.

“Y/N!” He quickly lifted you into his arms, pulling the blindfold off of your head. “Please, respond.” He pushed your hair out of your face, his voice shaking. Everyone, who gathered their ground again, gathered around, waiting… and waiting…

“Please.” Varian whispered, watching you desperately.

Suddenly, you let out a cough and you groaned, frowning as you opened your eyes and looked around. “Fuck,” You sighed raspily, “My throat.”

“Y/N?” Varian blinked. Rapunzel let out a small _oop_ when you cussed. Cassandra quickly cut the ropes around your wrists and ankles.

“Vari…” You breathed, reaching up and meeting his eyes. “You-- You did it.”

“Y/N!” Everyone cheered, bundling up in a big hug. You laughed, hugging them all back. You leaned forward, seeing Varian’s big bawling face and you rolled your eyes, wiping his tears away. He sniffled, breathing heavily.

“I thought-- I thought y-you were going to die.”

“No,” You said in a captain obvious voice. “We still have to get married, duh. Did you not read that note I left for you?”

“Married?” Rapunzel gasped.

“Well, of course!” You laughed, bringing Varian into a kiss. “We were planning on having you help with decorations.”

“Oh-em-gee!” She squealed. “Are you engaged yet? Please tell me yes. I want to be a maid of honor! You were one for my wedding!”

“Of course you will.” You said to her. “But, right now, I’m exhausted. We’ll talk in the morning, alright?”

Everyone agreed and helped you up, but you mostly leaned on Varian as he led you back to the room. It was silent but when he opened the door, you hobbled to the bed and collapsed on it. He stood by the door.

“I-I should get going--”

“Where are you going?” You asked him, shooting up and giving him puppy dog eyes.

“To my room..?”

“I thought this was your room. You slept with me every day!” You complained, looking pouty.

“H-How do you know?”

“I was conscious most of the time for all of that time. I just couldn’t control my body much, neither could Egdraz, so my body was just sorta idle most of the time.”

“That-- That means y-you…”

“Yes, I was there when you grabbed my boob. I’m glad you didn’t go any further, I didn’t want a threesome with a demon.”

Flushed, Varian walked over to the bed. He sat down on the edge and you reached out, holding his hand.

“And when you dressed me and refused to bathe me. That was so cute of you.” You yawned. “You know, you cuddled with me when you slept. You would always wrap your arms around me and you’d breathe into my neck. I lied awake a lot.”

“Okay-- okay! I get it!” He sighed, hugging you. “I’m just so happy you’re okay.”

“I know.” You whispered, petting his hair and pulling the blankets over the two of you. “Come here, you.” Huddling against his body, you rested your head against his chest as you shut your eyes, smiling. He laid his chin on your hair, closing his own eyes as he ran his fingers through your hair. For the first time in years, things finally felt… perfect.

* * *

In the morning, you woke up first. Varian’s arms were wrapped around you and he snored loudly, his hair a mess. You giggled and ruffled his hair. Once his eyes wearily opened, you pressed a kiss to his open mouth, taking him by surprise. Muffled, he said something, but you deepened the kiss and finally pulled away with satisfaction.

“Morning.” You simply said, getting out of bed. “Come on, I have to go see your dad.”

“It’s like seven in the morning.”

“Never too early.” You shrugged, rummaging through your clothes and quickly picking something simple out. He groaned and pulled the blankets over his head, which gave you an idea. Taking something else, you snuck into the bathroom and emerged in your usual clothing which was a casual dress. “Come on! Up!”

“Okay, okay, I’m-- I’m up.” He sighed, swatting at you with his hand. He got up and got dressed in the bathroom too before the two of you headed out into the hallway, walking toward the hospital wing. Walking into his room, Quirin was already awake and reading a newspaper with an empty tray of food on the table beside him. Glancing up, he excitedly smiled when he saw the two of you.

“I heard. I’m glad you’re okay, Y/N.”

“Likewise.” You said politely with a grin.

“I wish I could do more than just give you my blessing. When am I getting grandkids?”

“Dad!” Shouted Varian with a red face.

“Soon.” You said with a devious smile.

“Good, I’m getting old.”

“You were frozen in time for a couple years. Lookin’ good.” You joked, and he laughed.

“You’ve gotten to be such a beautiful young woman, Y/N. I’d be happy to call you my daughter.”

“And you’ll be the first dad I’ve ever had.” You smiled. Varian watched the two of you talk about different things together and laugh, getting along so greatly. A small smile burst on his lips as he realized that he was finally together with his family. Things could never be any better than they are now.

**START OF NSFW (SKIP IF YOU WANT)**

* * *

Later that night, you groaned and rubbed your neck as you walked back, arms linked with Varian.

“Tired?” He asked, looking over at you.

“Long day. Can’t believe Raps held a kingdom-wide celebration for me and your father.” You laughed, opening the door to your room. “Still having a sugar rush from the cake from earlier.”

He shut the door and stretched, relaxing as he lied down on the bed. Your heart hammered in your throat from the nerves as you began to take off your dress. Varian lifted his head, his eyes wide as you stripped down to your underwear.

“Y/N?” He asked, watching as you turned to him.

“Vari, I wanted to… thank you.”

“Wuh--what?” He stammered, pushing himself against the headboard as you climbed on the bed, straddling his lap.

“You’ve been so happy today, I’ve noticed. I’m free, your dad is, finally everything is normal. This might be the only chance we have before something else happens.” You whispered, leaning down and kissing his neck, sucking lightly. He let out small whiny moans as you did so. “I need you.” You murmured. You felt his hands rest on your hips and his gaze met yours seriously.

“Y/N, I-I don’t know--”

“Please!” You begged, pushing your arms in that forced your breasts to become more noticeable. His eyes drifted downwards before they snapped upwards and he began to shake from embarrassment. You began to grind on him again, knowing this drove him up the wall. He bit his lip, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. “Varian…” You breathily moaned in his ear.

“Y/N!” He grunted, quickly snapping before he snatched your wrists and turned over, pulling you underneath him. He quickly began to unclip your bra, being more skilled at it now and tossing it to the side of the room. You were matching underwear, but with your bra flying across the room, you guessed it didn’t matter. He leaned forward, wrapping his lips around the bud of your nipple.

“V-Varian!” You blinked in shock as his free hand wrapped around your other exposed breast. You whimpered as he messily licked and rubbed the tips of his teeth against your nipple, driving you wild.

“Don’t tease me.” He said in a low voice when he pulled away. Out of breath and panting, you watched his usual humiliated composure return as he lifted his hand off of you-- but you grabbed his wrist, shaking your head.

“Keep going.” You grinned excitedly.

“Je--Jeez, that-- that was too m-much!” He looked down. You blinked and grabbed your own boobs, running your hands along them and letting out hot moans again. You were teasing him indirectly. He watched and you shut your eyes, furrowing your eyebrows.

“V--Varian… I want you inside me.” You murmured, gasping for air.

Suddenly, you felt his fingers hike under your panties. They hesitated though when you stopped and he kept staring at you, his fingers trembling.

“Hey,” You sat up under him, cradling his face. “It’s okay if you’re not ready.”

“No,” He breathed in response, looking in your eyes. “I want to. R-Really badly. I’m just-- I’ve never done this.”

“It’s okay.” You said softly. “When I lived… in the manor… I was exposed to a lot of this--”

Varian’s expression grew dark. “Do you still think about that?”

“Well, yeah. It’s hard to forget.” You sighed, pushing your hair out of your face.

“Then, we’ll make you forget.” He said, getting off of you. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off over his head, then his goggles came off and fell onto the floor next. Lastly, his pants, before he crawled back on the bed and kissed you passionately. Melting into the kiss, you felt his fingertips brush against your breast again, playing with it before he broke away.

“Do you want me to get naked first?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He shrugged his shoulders, his face and ears burning hotly. “How about the same time?”

“Okay.” He agreed. The two of you focused on pulling your bottom off before your eyes traced up his legs and to his-- oh, _wow_. You stared and he quickly covered himself.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ve never do--done anything like this and I’m small-ish--”

“Never masturbated?” You asked him. He shook his head. Blinking with surprise, you felt your lips twitch up in a grin. “Then, you wouldn’t know. When men get horny, they get much bigger.”

“I’m… aroused.” He said defensively.

“Yes, but not enough.” You cooed, scooting forward and gently placing your fingers on his manhood. He twitched under your touch and you formed a small fist over the base of his shaft before you slowly pumped it, watching him falter under you. He rested his forehead on your shoulder, already running out of breath. You watched him lovingly and with amusement as he suddenly grew bigger in size-- much bigger than you anticipated. “See?”

“Ah-- ah…” He moaned, biting his lip. “It’s so hot.”

“I know. Let me know when you’re about to cum.”

“It-- It’s coming!” He warned and you stopped, placing your palm on his tip. He stiffened and looked up at you frustratingly. “W-Why’d you stop?”

“Because, you’ll be too tired to have sex with me.” You said softly. “I don’t want it anywhere else except for inside of me.”

“Y/N.” He begged. “L-Let me c-cuh…”

“Say it.”

“Cum.”

“Where?”

“Inside of you.”

You grinned and laid down on your back, spreading your legs for him to see. His instincts told him to cover his face but he just shakily reached out, gently prodding your dripping womanhood. He seemed to be in awe, mesmerized by it. His fingers ran across it and you allowed him to satisfy whatever curiosities he had, but when he suddenly plunged two fingers inside of you, you let out a sudden mewl. He peered up at your expression and flushed a deep crimson color.

“I-I’m sorry--”

“Warn me before you do that!” You said in a rush, closing your eyes and gripping the sheets under you. “Now, move your fingers around.”

Doing so, you felt sparks of pleasure shoot up your spine and you arched your back, you let out a long cry of utmost arousal. He continued doing the same motions, watching your body shake under him as he fingered you.

“F-Faster!” You quickly said, to which he obeyed, thrusting his fingers rapidly now. “Oh, fuck!”

“Lan--Language.” He quietly warned. You didn’t listen to him and you threw your head back, feeling a rush of heat surround your slit and suddenly, it overwhelmed you as you orgasmed. He pulled his fingers out, watching you press your face into a pillow and let out a whine.

“D-Did you..” He blinked, watching your body fall limp. Beads of sweat glistened on your body and the same with him, you noticed when you opened your eyes. He trailed away, but you understood and nodded.

“Are you sure you weren’t practicing behind my back?” You joked. “That was… so good.”

“Y/N.” He groaned. You looked down at him and noticed his member was quivering with excitement, even dripping with wetness. “Can I-I please put it in?”

“So needy.” You grinned. “Go ahead.”

Varian quickly grabbed your thighs, pulling you closer to him. He bent down to watch where he was putting it in at, since the room was dark, and managed to find your entrance. Then, as you instructed, he began to push, closing the space between you. Finally, he slid in all at once, hitting your cervix. You let out a repressed breath and he tried to stabilize himself above you but his arms were shaking. You reached out, taking both of his hands in yours and lacing your fingers as you locked your legs around his waist.

“Move your hips.” You said to him, who leaned down and kissed you rather innocently for the activity you were partaking in. Finally, he began to rock his hips, immediately letting out groans of pleasure. You bit your lip to watch his expression change, which made you giggle. “You’re so cute.”

“S-Stooop… you’re teasing me again-- ah!”

“You’re just so adorable like this.” You tried to steady your breath, but that only made him more upset and embarrassed, causing his thrusts to grow vigorous and more rough. “Ah-- Varian! W-Wait!” You whined, tossing your head side to side. “I’m sensitiv-- Aah!”

He continued until he began to breathe heavily, quickening his pace. You couldn’t handle this any longer, feeling another orgasm begin. “V-Varian!”

“I’m cumming too, Y/N,” He whispered, suddenly thrusting one last time before releasing it all inside of you. Orgasming with him, you dug your nails into his hands. Falling on top of you, he slid out and tiredly regained his breath, along with you.

His hands let go of yours and he rolled off of you, wiping his face of sweat. You leaned over and pressed a passionate and steamy kiss to his lips, to which he returned immediately. He parted from you, worriedly looking into your eyes. “We shouldn’t have… done that.”

“It’s okay.” You rolled your eyes.

“B-But I-I came inside! Wh--What if you get pregnant?”

“I don’t mind! Varian, I want to have a big family with you. I want a future.” You said softly, nuzzling him. He flushed a light pink, petting your hair.

“Me too.” He replied, his eyes meeting yours, sighing. “I-I had no idea it would feel that…”

“Good?” You asked, leaning back. He shrugged and you frowned, sitting up and looking at him. “What’re you shrugging for? I know for sure it’s not the sex, so what?”

“I don’t know…” He teased in a singsong voice. Staring at him, clearly unamused, you continually glared at him until he gave up. “I was going to say, it was perfect.” He said, kissing your forehead. “I’m exhausted, a-anyways.” Standing up, he threw his underwear back on before you watched him crawl back into bed. You didn’t bother getting dressed again, you curled up beside him and shut your eyes happily, listening to his breathing as he ran his fingers through your hair, lulling you to sleep.

* * *

**END OF NSFW**

“Wake up, wake up!” Called a voice. You frowned, jerking up and so did Varian. Pulling the blankets over your shoulders, you saw Rapunzel bound into the room excitedly. “We have to plan your wedding!”

“Oh, Raps, maybe not today--” You smile awkwardly.

“Okay, I get it, you’re just embarrassed.”

“Well, we’re not even engaged yet.” You laughed awkwardly.

“What?” She blinked in surprise. “Varian, you haven’t?!--”

“N-No…”

“You need to! Like, asap!” She cried.

“We have our entire lives ahead of us.” You smiled a little. “Maybe it’s best to wait.”

Varian shot you a worried glance, then looked to Rapunzel. “Can-- can you excuse us for a moment?”

“Oh, sure.” She nodded, walking out of the room and shutting the door. Varian turned to you, his eyes wide.

“We need to get married.” He said, gripping your hands.

“Woah, slow down there.” You said, your heart racing. “What’s going on?”

“We just had s-sex! What if you get pregnant? We can’t have a baby and not be married.” He said in a panic.

“It’s okay, yes we can. It’s not illegal, you know. We’re only seventeen, Vari, marriage is a really big step.”

“But I know I want to be with you for the rest of my life.” He said, gently taking your hands in his. “I… I even have…” He leaned over, opening his nightstand drawer and pulling out a small glittery ring. You frowned at it and looked back up at him. “I want to marry you.”

“Varian!” You said in shock as he nervously held up the ring. “I can’t believe you proposed to me here. Where did you get this ring?”

“Eugene helped me get it.”

“Of course he did.” You sighed, looking him in the eyes. “Then, let’s get married.”


End file.
